In ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT / Tags: alcoholic, Alcoholics, becoming, children, parent, percentage, themselves /
Question by michele_wntrs: What percentage of children with one alcoholic parent end up becoming alcoholics themselves?
My children have an alcoholic father. I’m wondering what thier chances are of becoming alcoholic also.
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Answer by Natalie
Both my sister and I are alcoholics although at this stage in our lives we do not drink. My mother never drank but my father was an alcoholic. I have a daughter that can’t stand the site of a beer let alone a mixed drink and I think it is because I never drank around her. I kept it away from her although she knows my problem. A good role model is the best thing you can do for your kids. Good Luck
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It is genetic, but cannot give exact answers. Educate them, get then into Alateen.
It is odd, but you can often find two brothers who are children of an alcoholic. One will be a drunk and the other won’t touch a drop.
If you ask them why, they will both give the same answer—-
“What would you expect, seeing what kind of a father I had.”
It’s amazing that people who can ask this question would never think to ask what the chances are that their kids might be murdered by someone in the Black family across the street.
An estimated 10% of the population suffers from alcoholism or some other form of addiction. In my family (one alcoholic parent), of four children 3 are alcoholics. In my experience, dealing with many alcoholics, it appears that there is a combination of genetic disposition as well as a learned trait. I would say that, especially if he is in active alcoholism (still drinking) that there is a huge likelihood of your children becoming alcoholics.
I would recommend exposing them to one of the variety of 12-step programs available, including AA. In the chance that they are in fact an alcoholic, it would be important for them to know where to go once they are ready to get help.