[xyzcf]

Thanks anjae..I do believe this model is expanded on in other articles...but in it's simplicity it struck me.

I smoked for 17 years. 2 packs or more a day. Even though I knew it wasn't good for me, even though I wanted to quit, I kept on smoking.....it was an insight I had this morning..I wasn't a bad person because I smoked, but I got caught up into something that gave me pleasure.....it was so freeing when I finally quit and didn't have that chain around my neck.

[Anjae]

You're welcome, Xyzcf. You would like me to try to find a more complex model?

2 packs or more a day for 17 years?  Wow, that is a lot.

The reason I first pick a neuroscience course was not MLC, it was smoking/addiction. When my cousin who had MLC hit rock bottom, he stayed here. So did his brother. Cousin who was not in MLC and I spoke a lot at dinner and one of the things we spoke about was his smoking, the fact I never smoked - even if I had tried a few cigarettes in my teens, 15 at most in some 5 years. Cousin said I was lucky because my brain did not had a tendency to addiction. We keep talking about addiction, depression, etc. and I found it interesting enough to wanted to know more.

I had already heardd of Coursera, so I found the Drugs and the Brain course, the first one I took.

What cousin had explained to me was that cigarettes calmed him down. For him, as for his mother, my aunt, it was more relaxing related than pleasure. My aunt's boyfriend still smokes, about 4 cigarettes a day and now only outside. For him it is both the direct nicotice addiction as well as the gestures, being on the computer and pulling out a cigarette. Since he now has to get up and go outside, he cut from 10 to 4/3 a day and is trying to reach 2, then zero.

Aunt should had stop smoking after her cancer. She didn't. Only stopped early last year, after her stroke. She does not have the addiction since her mood suffered no change, it was just an habit (OK, an habit can be an addiction).

[xyzcf]

 

You would like me to try to find a more complex model?

Sure if you can....so many MLCers have some sort of addiction.

I do believe that addictions can be hereditary. In my family, alcohol was a problem especially for the men. I think I could have an "addictive personality" ..I think many people do.

I am glad I finally quit...(replaced by an addiction to chocolate!)

On the model that you posted...the word that jumps out at me, quit intensely really is SHAME. I think my husband has a great deal of shame about many things..it is all part of the million pieces puzzle that we try and put the pieces together to get a better picture.

I think I remember a discussion thread about addictions. I'll couldn't find it ...my bad.

[Anjae]

This one is a little different, but it does not show the roots like the other one.

Can addiction be hereditary? Would say so.

In a way, everyone has an "addictive personality". It is probably part of being human. Most "addictions" are harmless, both in terms of health and money. 





posting the other way so that together they provide a better idea of the roots + fruits of addiction.

[xyzcf]

Thanks Anjae.

I had seen this diagram as well but the other version shows the roots of addiction as being loneliness, fear, shame, grief, anger, hereditary and the soil of addiction being physical abuse, spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse. Because I see the "soil" factors so often in the children I work with, I do understand how they may have a difficult adulthood...not all for sure, byut many never get over their childhood trauma.

Their ACE score (adverse childhood experience)

 https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/

predisposes them to many problems later in life...and the problem is, by the time they enter into social services, they generally have been exposed to so much trauma that is it difficult to reverse the damage.

In the tree you posted, we can all recognize that we all have several "addictions"....it is when those addictions become severe or more intense (for example Mr. xyzcf's extreme work life) that there starts to be issues.

Thanks  Anjae

[Anjae]

I posted the other tree below the new one so that it become easier to see both.

My reply to the questions on the test are 0 pr 1 for the Ace (my parents were separated because of the colonial war, so were the parents of may during the war years, 1961-1974) not sure if it counts as a normal separation  and 14 for "Definitely true" on the resilience test, which I believe to be very good.

My maternal grandmother killed himself, but that was years before I was born, not during my childhood.

Things changed for me when I was about to be 14, not when I was a child.

[xyzcf]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blame-my-brain-killer-s-bold-defense-gets-court-hearing-n998676

Slightly off topic except it talks about genetic factors that could lead to violent behavior...as science continues to add to it's body of knowledge, we learn more and more about the brain and how many factors are involved in behavior.

[OldPilot]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blame-my-brain-killer-s-bold-defense-gets-court-hearing-n998676

Slightly off topic except it talks about genetic factors that could lead to violent behavior...as science continues to add to it's body of knowledge, we learn more and more about the brain and how many factors are involved in behavior.

Thats interesting, not sure what I think but since I now have 3 genetics courses under my belt in the last few years it is a topic that I find relevant.
I still only know enough about genetics to be dangerous, and am not confidant in anything
I might say.
Very complex subject that I am not sure can be used in court like they tried to do.

[xyzcf]

I am even more blown away OP by the field of epigenetics which with my rather limited understanding, shows how trauma can change an ancestor's DNA and that the memories of that trauma is passed along to the offspring, several generations forward.

Kind of scary but also very fascinating. Could my own response to trauma be imbedded by my father's PTSD? Is that why some LBSers handle this differently than others?

I don't think science will ever unravel all the mysteries of the human body or mind.

[OldPilot]

I am even more blown away OP by the field of epigenetics which with my rather limited understanding, shows how trauma can change an ancestor's DNA and that the memories of that trauma is passed along to the offspring, several generations forward.

Kind of scary but also very fascinating. Could my own response to trauma be imbedded by my father's PTSD? Is that why some LBSers handle this differently than others?

I don't think science will ever unravel all the mysteries of the human body or mind.

So epigentics is when one piece of DNA is answered yes or no then something happens or not depending on the yes or no logic.
Kind of like a computer If then statement.
So it also kind of works with cells, they live so long and then they die and the cell replicates.
Cancer happens because this logic gets messed up and the cell replicates rather than die.
So in computer logic its all 1 or zeros and if a place gets messed up = havoc.

SO a long winded explanation which is that - maybe it is in your DNA - or maybe it is from nature vs nurture, your father passed it on to you through nurture not DNA.
I have no clue.
However it is fascinating I agree.

I am now third generation of divorced men in my family and that took a lot for me to get over.
However good news was that my father and grandfather died still married just not to their original mates.

I just hope our children - my two and your one can stay happily married for a lifetime.

That is my wish for them.