Addiction Isn’t in Your DNA(Blog 5)

Note from the author:
This is the fifth installment in a 15-part series inspired by Outgrowing Addiction: With Common Sense Instead of “Disease” Therapy, the book I co-authored with Dr. Stanton Peele. These posts are all written by me—Zach Rhoads—to distill the book’s core ideas in my own voice. Today’s post is about one of the most stubborn myths in addiction science: that addiction is inherited like eye color or height.

“It’s in My Blood” — or Is It?

You’ve heard it. You may have even said it.

• “Addiction runs in my family.”
• “My dad was an alcoholic, so I’m probably an addict too.”
• “It’s genetic.”

Sounds reasonable—until you look at the evidence. Despite decades of effort, science still hasn’t identified a single, reliable “addiction gene.” And the more we study addiction, the clearer it becomes:

What gets inherited isn’t addiction. It’s behavior, belief, coping styles, and—most of all—environment.

What Do Genes Actually Do?

Genes are not blueprints. They’re not destiny. They don’t act on their own. They’re like switches—and those switches are flipped (on or off) depending on your environment, your relationships, your experiences, and even your sense of meaning.

That’s what epigenetics teaches us.

So while people can inherit predispositions—like impulsivity, anxiety, or a high tolerance for substances—those things don’t ensure a future addiction. They only might, depending on your life circumstances.

In other words: genes load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.

(And even that metaphor is misleading, because genes aren’t weapons—they’re variables.)

There’s No “Addiction Gene”

Despite major funding and multiple headlines over the years, no scientist has ever found a gene that causes addiction. What they’ve found are correlations—small statistical links between certain traits (like thrill-seeking or low dopamine response) and certain behaviors.

But here’s the catch: the same genes linked to addiction risk are also linked to entrepreneurship, athleticism, creativity, and high social engagement.

So unless we’re calling ambition a disease, we can relax and stop pathologizing complex human traits.

What Parents Actually Pass On

Even if you inherit zero addictive tendencies genetically, growing up in a home filled with substance misuse, instability, or neglect increases your odds of using drugs in risky ways.

That’s not your chromosomes’ fault. Rather, it’s a consequence of how stress is managed, how problems are modeled, and how much emotional connection is available.

It’s not addiction that’s inherited, but the ways of thinking, behaving, and relating that can make life feel unlivable without escape.

When that belief is replaced with the idea that life is an adventure—something that can be faced, enjoyed, and built upon—it becomes easier to build a life worth staying present for.

The Problem with the Genetics Narrative

The “addiction gene” myth isn’t just inaccurate—it’s harmful.

• It encourages fatalism.
• It discourages agency.
• It frames addiction as a lifelong curse, rather than a solvable problem tied to life circumstances.

And it creates a dangerous feedback loop:

“If I’m wired this way, then what’s the point in trying?”

From overcoming heroin addiction to working with families and kids, I’ve learned the most freeing truth: we are not written in advance.

Resilience

If behaviors are learned, they can be relearned. And if trauma can be gifted to the next generation, so can resilience.

I’ve seen kids raised in households with multiple generations of substance misuse grow up to live healthy, intentional lives. Why? Because someone in their life—often not even a parent—modeled a different way to be.

You don’t have to come from a perfect background. You just need access to people, places, and ideas that make growth feel possible.

And sometimes, that starts with throwing the “bad genes” narrative in the trash.

Final Thought

If you’re worried about your DNA, don’t be.

Worry about your values, your relationships, and the kind of life you’re building. Those are the factors that matter most—and the ones you have the most control over.

Genes don’t determine who you are. But your choices do shape who you become.

And that’s not wishful thinking. That’s science.

—Zach Rhoads
Coach, Author, Occasional Gene Skeptic

👉 Watch the YouTube Podcast that accompanies this article

👉 Buy Outgrowing Addiction on Amazon