RNs- Mostly first born? Alcoholic fathers?

Dad alcoholic and real loving-mother absolutely crazy and never drank Krisssy

First born of an alcoholic. When I was in the hospital room of my dying paternal alcoholic grandfather (1970's) it was then I decided to be a nurse. He was in D.T.'s and I was so upset I could not help him. My interest in alcoholism grew and grew from visiting my Pap that day. My father is now in end-stage liver failure...refusing his lactulose....a nightmare. Alcoholic for over 50-yes 50 years. (Hard liqour) Only mean when he didn't have a drink in his hand. Our whole family has suffered tremendously from it. Mom left in 1980. I strongly believe that the eldest child is the "protective" child-trying to keep the younger ones "safe" from the eggshell-stepping life we lived. At least that is how my life has been and I have witnessed it in other families as well. It has honestly been a living hell.

Third born- alcoholic father ( why I rarely drink)
wonderful mother
wonderful step father

( of all kids step included I am 5th of 6)

1st born girl with etoh father - but mom was very ill and died young - she was so ill and depressed and anxous it added to the codependency i was in.

This topic as a thread will probably never yield unbiased results because of the self0-selection process of the participants. People who have a family history of alcoholism will be more likely to be interested in such a thread than people who have led lives untouched by alcoholism.

People with little experience with alcoholism will be less likely to click on the thread to read it in the first place. People with a history of alcoholism in their family will be more likely to read the thread and respond.

It would make a good topic for a real research study, however. Such a study would have to survey a large group of nurses who were randomly selected, not who were self-selected based on their interest in the topic.

You have a valid point.

As llg says, this poll (and most polls on here) are likely to have a self-selecting sample. However it's also interesting to note that of those people with alcoholic dads, their mums often suffer/ed from mental illnesses.

Perhaps we need another category - ETOH dependent fathers, crazy mothers, and first born. I am the third person that fits this category, but I voted ETOH father. I even went to a psychiatrist too as a teen who then told my parents "she is perfectly normal".

Hello Everyone:
First born (adopted) female. Both parents abused alcohol, in fact lots of members of extended family abused ETOH. My younger brother by four years and I do not abuse alcohol. He is also adopted. Now my two younger siblings, both biological siblings, abuse both alcohol and other substances. SO the two adoptive children do not use or abuse alcohol, but the two biologically-related siblings do. I am not sure if it is because of the effects we have lived through or because we do not have that specific genetic marker for alcohol abuse.
That would also make an interesting research project, don'cha think?
Respectfully,
athena