One thing we don't yet know is how the disease of chemical dependence gets started. Various theories have been proposed, although none has yet been proved.

Some suggest it may be hereditary; it does tend to run in families, and there's about a 50 percent chance that the child of one or more alcoholic parents will become alcoholic. but that doesn't explain why the other 50 percent won't or way many alcoho lics come from families where chemical dependence hasn't (apparently) been a problem in the past. Other theories claim that chemical dependence is related to a specific personality type. But there are millions of alcoholics who don't fit any particular profile.

What's clear is that all sorts of people become chemically dependent, some for no apparent reason. On the other hand, it seems that some people can't become chemically dependent no matter how hard they try!

We do know that chemical dependence isn't caused by a lack of willpower, weakness of character, or some flaw in a person's moral structure. And it's not a form of mental illness. Nor is it the result of external influences--an unhappy marriage, troub le on the job, peer pressure. This means that if someone you care about is alcoholic or drug dependent, it's not your fault. If you learn only one this from this page, let it be this: You're not responsible for the disease of chemical depe ndence that has taken hold in the person you care about. You may be feeling guilty anyway; but try to believe--or at least consider--that nothing you've ever done could have caused that person's illness.