Biology, Genetics, and Substance Abuse and Addiction
Leigh Lusignan
Walden University
CPSY 6728-4 Substance Abuse Counseling
Facilitator: Dr. Natalie Spencer
June 13, 2014

Biology, Genetics, and Substance Abuse and Addiction
The relationship between genetics and substance abuse or addiction is a source of some controversy in the field (Walden University, 2014). In this application, I will consider how natural dispositions and genetics may influence substance abuse and addiction and develop a position on the topic. Mistreatment of psychoactive substances is associated with considerable detriments to users and to culture. According to Prescott, Madden, and Stallings (2006), a prospering literary text proposes distinctive differences in
In each stage, the effects of alcohol will have an impact on brain function (Stevens & Smith, 2013), and I impacts me in a very negative manner. For example, one alcoholic drink will lower my inhibitions, impair judgment, exaggerate emotions and cause stupor. However, my father when he was alive drank more alcohol than I thought possible. Nevertheless, he was a working alcoholic. He did not become destructive, and he became senseless and clumsy. His father was quite the opposite, angry, and he physically abused my father’s mother. My grandmother consumed alcohol to numb her emotions; like my father, she was not violent. I personally become senseless and prefer not to drink.
The association between biological or genetic science and substance abuse and dependency has merit, but we still do not comprehend unconditionally, how genetics influences substance abuse. I personally think just because you carry the gene, does not mean you will become an addict; especially if the substances are not available within your socialization. For example, environments can determine an individual’s drug tolerance. He or she is susceptible to developing an addiction when experimenting with drugs, and there is not just one that would not be addicting. Therefore, genetics may or may not be a factor because I believe the environment (i.e., influences) is the road to addiction. However, individuals with a hereditary vulnerability to drug