I have done extensive research on addiction and mental illness and there is a correlation. Addiction is a genetic predisposition once a child goes through trauma such as abuse or molestation or in my case being raped and going through PTSD...a lot of us find comfort in medicating with alcohol or drugs... whether mental illness or addiction are the same gene, I do not know. However, mental illness seems to be a precursor with addiction because those who suffer from mental illness are more likely to participate in destructive behaviors. I am currently working on a book about this. Alcoholism runs ramped on my fathers side, mental illness on my mom’s side. While my sisters and I share the same parents we all suffer from some form of mental illness. I was the only one who was raped and in college I went Through a lot of trauma....it was then that my alcoholism and prescription drug abuse began. My sisters are not alcoholics. I think it is a combination of genetics, environment, and a person’s metabolic compositions as well as general personality.