Alcohol is a depressant and one of the most abused substances by
veterans. The article from the Addiction Center titled, “Alcohol Addiction and
Genetics” talks about a research that shows that genes account for half of the
risk for developing AUD. They further stated, that there are certain
combinations of genes that have a strong correlation with alcoholism. However,
certain environmental factors can also lead to alcoholism, such as work-related
stress. The article also mentioned that the mental illnesses increases the
chances of developing alcoholism by twenty to fifty percent.
In the article “Alcohol use and craving among Veterans with mental health disorders and mild traumatic brain injury” researchers found out that the rates of alcohol misuse was high among veterans with mental health disorders and mild traumatic brain injuries. For this study they conducted a phone interview for up to six weeks where the participants completed questionnaires regarding alcohol use and alcohol cravings. The results showed that veterans with high alcohol cravings were more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder.
Both of the articles mentioned the fact that chances of alcohol use disorder increase with mental illnesses. For instance, for veterans suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder the chances of AUD increases. AUD is not only linked with genetics, but environmental factors also play a role. I am excited to see where the research regarding AUD goes in the future and I am excited to learn more about AUD.
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