Addiction Demographics: Who Is Most Likely to Experience Problems with Addiction?

You can never tell who is going to become an addict. Someone might become one seemingly out of nowhere. However, a valuable part of studying addiction and fighting against it can be looking at demographics and determining which groups seem to be most subject to this condition.

You can always investigate local treatment centers if you feel like you are having an addiction issue or some problematic behavior is becoming habit-forming. Let us also take a look at some addiction demographics. It can be helpful to see whether you fall into one of the more likely categories.

Those Who Have Other Addicts in Their Families

Many studies have shown that you are more likely to be an addict if you have other addicts in your family. There seem to be some genetic factors that come into play in these situations.

For instance, if you have alcoholics in your family, it is considerably more likely you will become one yourself. That’s valuable information to have if you have seen alcohol take a devastating toll on your family. You’re not guaranteed to become an alcoholic if both your parents couldn’t put down the bottle, but you should watch your alcohol consumption nonetheless.

Those Who Have Mental Illness

There is also an established correlation between individuals who have mental illness and those who become addicts. If you consider this for a moment, you’ll realize it makes sense.

If you’re mentally ill, you might grapple with personal demons all the time. You may self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs.

This can be a natural way of coping. Mental illness can create what feels like a barrier between you and other people. Someone who’s mentally ill may think that using drugs or alcohol regularly is a way to break down that barrier and feel normal and accepted.

Those Who Have Dealt with Trauma

Individuals who have dealt with trauma in their lives are also highly likely to become addicts. For instance, if you look at drug and alcohol addiction in military veterans, you will see that the numbers are extraordinarily high. There are many more veterans who are addicts than you would see in almost any cross-section of the general population.

Other kinds of trauma can bring on drug or alcohol addiction. Personal tragedies like a spouse or child’s death can cause it. It’s easy to see how and why that would happen. The afflicted individual is trying to deal with their pain, and substances are an easy way to do that.

Those who have survived a sexual assault might become addicts. So might those who have lost their home due to an epic disaster like a flood or tornado.

In short, anyone who falls into one of these three categories has a better-than-average chance of becoming an addict. Again, there is nothing that guarantees drug addiction, but if any of what we’ve mentioned applies to you, watch your behavior carefully. A habit can become an addiction almost overnight if you’re not mindful of it.