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Gen X is drinking more as younger Americans cut back on alcohol, study finds
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
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I had a close family member die of alcoholism not long before COVID, so I know it's in my genes. I'd say it's more tempting now than before because of the incredible chaos at work, but I have kids so my life isn't about me anymore.
Alcoholism isn't hereditary.
it is and has been shown by decades of studies by this point.
Nope
"Substance use disorders... are influenced by genetic factors" - https://web.archive.org/web/20250115025115/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8477224/
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/B3BAE9D2DCF78C7C4833A8DB4420F5B2/S0033291721000969a.pdf/genetics-of-substance-use-disorders-a-review.pdf
my friend, this shows the opposite of your claim - the abstract states outright that substance use disorders are influenced by genetic factors with heritability of about 50%, and the intro's first sentence calls them "heritable psychiatric disorders”
I can't tell if I'm dumb, but directly from your linked review, under "Epidemiology" (Bolding is mine)
Edit: reread your first comment. I see what you're saying. I think its a silly distinction, but I could see your argument. Leaving this for posterity
So those studies don't prove that alcoholism is hereditary, nor do they prove that it isn't just nurture. Since they aren't twin adoption studies they're generally useless.
If we look at those instead, it does not suggest that alcoholism is hereditary, but that certain genes increase the risk of substance abuse. It's not that child inherits alcoholism from the parent, but the predisposition for alcoholism is in their genetics. This means that even if a parent is not an alcholic, the child will still be more predispositioned for alcoholism, meaning the hereditary term doesn't make much sense.
I'm lost at what you are saying, I think we agree with some of the core factors. If the genes that widely encourage substance abuse are in you, and you've never touched a drink... you will not feel a strong urge to drink.
However it sounds like if you have the genes, and you start drinking, you are more likely to get dependent on it faster than someone without them. I believe that's what the studies imply overall.
No there's no magical transmission that makes you born addicted to something you've never had. But the bar to go from drinking occasionally to can't live without a drink, is a variable that's composed of a lot of different things. Some of it is nurture and life experiences, some of it is inherent to your genetics.
Think of it like this, 99.9% of the people with those genes did not become alcoholics throughout the history of those human genes existing.
Those that did did not transmit it to further generations through genes either.
So is alcoholism hereditary? No, we cannot say in any meaningful semantic sense of the word that it is.
I'd find that rather unlikely as humans producing alcohol at some levels, and thus the existence of alcoholics pretty much predates written history, and even wild animals etc... have tendencies to seek out fermenting fruits etc... obviously one of the biggest variables is the scale and availability of alchohol, people being able to buy shots of cheap vodka for less than the price of water at a gas station is certainly a more modern history development, and the modern problem where someone wanting to avoid alchohol altogether has their work cut out for them as in most states grocery stores and gas stations have it advertised and supplied.
But I'd still say based on the frequency of alchohol within stories, legends etc... which were intended to be relatable and understandable to the people of their time, I'd say at least a 5-15% alchoholism rate through pretty much all agricultural human civilization is a fairly safe estimate. and it looks like at least on some level, people with certain genes fell into that range more often than others.
admitted though the idea that we can read "throughout the history of those human genes existing" is silly. obviously we can only study peoples lives based on when the human genomes were recorded and study has begin.