What Are the Causes of Alcohol Dependency?

Alcoholism, alcohol dependency and binge drinking affect an estimated 14 million Americans across all age groups and is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV, which considers substance abuse a mental illness. Alcohol dependency affects sufferers in different ways, and similarly, it can be caused or exacerbated by a variety of factors.

Behavioral Causes

• Sufferers of alcohol dependency sometimes note that their alcohol abuse is related to behavioral patterns: Drinking to fit in or to gain acceptance or praise from a social group could lead to alcohol dependency. Alcohol use and abuse can be exacerbated by the internal and external cues and feedback you experiences when you drink. The sense of euphoria while drunk or the hangover experienced in the morning are examples of internal feedback cues, which can heavily influence your decision to drink again. External factors include peer pressure, social acceptance, compliments or reprimands. If you feel you are more accepted when you drink, you are more likely to do it again.

Psychological Causes

• Some people begin drinking at a point of personal turmoil in their lives, such as during the breakup of a relationship, after the death or loss of a loved one, when under financial stress or after a job loss. Alcohol has an undeniable intoxicating effect: It makes you feel good, even if for a short period of time. The short-term emotional gain from drinking to reduce stress or numb internal turmoil can easily lead to a reliance and dependence on alcohol.

Biological Causes

• Your tolerance of the intoxicating effects of alcohol increases the more you drink, which leads to alcoholics needing more and more drinks over time to get the same effects they once did. Consuming alcohol also impairs the brain's ability to maintain consistent levels of dopamine, leading to depression. People who associate alcohol with positive feelings can find that association leads to drinking more and more to obtain a short-term feeling of euphoria.

Genetic Causes

• While behavior and biologic causes play their part, studies have shown that some people are genetically predisposed to alcoholism. A study reported in the July 1997 issue of "Molecular Psychiatry" asserted that there is a gene that leads to alcoholism and is usually passed down from father to son. Other studies have shown that close relatives of alcoholics are four times more likely to become alcoholics themselves, though many such studies have been questioned by the scientific community. An article in the March 2001 Oxford Journal "Alcohol and Alcoholism" criticizes past studies for having poor control selection and small sample numbers. The author suggests that there is an established genetic component to alcoholism, but that it is not a single cause. Alcoholism is a complex disorder caused by a variety of genetic, behavioral and biological factors.