August 4, 2026
Eleanor Health’s Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Nzinga Harrison, sat down with the Circleville Herald to talk about her book, Un-Addiction: 6 Mind-Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life, and one of the questions at the center of it: is addiction genetic? Harrison’s answer draws on both the science and her own family. Addiction runs on both sides of her family tree, including an uncle who spent decades in active addiction before recently approaching a year of sobriety in his fifties.
“60% of your risk of developing addiction is coded in your DNA the day that you’re born.”
— Dr. Nzinga Harrison, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Eleanor Health
That statistic anchors one of the central arguments in Harrison’s book: addiction is an illness, not a moral failing, and the genetics prove it. A 60% genetic contribution is higher than the inherited risk for high blood pressure, asthma, or type 2 diabetes, conditions nobody questions as medical. The remaining 40% comes from environment and psychology, some present from childhood, some triggered later by events like job loss or the death of a loved one.
“Drug use is a choice that the overwhelming majority of Americans make every day in the form of caffeine, but addiction is an illness.”
— Dr. Nzinga Harrison, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Eleanor Health
Harrison also used the interview to draw a sharp line between substance use and addiction, using an example nearly everyone can relate to.
On interventions, Harrison steered away from the confrontational model most people picture and toward a specific, practical resource: if a loved one is intoxicated and police involvement becomes necessary, ask dispatch whether a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained officer is available, someone trained in de-escalation who is more likely to connect a person to treatment than to an arrest. She also shared her grandmother’s approach to boundaries with her uncle: he could always come home for a meal, but he could not spend the night, a limit delivered with love rather than punishment. It’s the same firm-but-compassionate, whole-person approach behind the care Eleanor Health provides every day.
Eleanor Health provides outpatient treatment for addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions, taking a whole-person approach that combines medication, therapy, peer support, and care coordination across 19 states.
About Eleanor Health
Media Contact: marketing@eleanorhealth.com
Eleanor Health delivers comprehensive, evidence-based care for individuals affected by substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and mental health conditions. With a whole-person, trauma-informed approach, Eleanor Health is committed to improving the lives of its members, their families, and their communities.
