Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Seniors
March 18, 2008
Most people would be surprised to learn that the incidence of alcohol abuse is actually higher among seniors than it is among the rest of the population. Estimates are that approximately 10 percent of people living in the United States have an alcohol abuse problem. However, up to 17% of those over the age of 65 abuse alcohol. This number includes 2.5 million seniors in this country.
Some of these people have been living with substance abuse for years, while others start at a late age. The fact that older adults tend to be on many medications, both prescription and over-the-counter, makes this problem even worse. Both of these types of medication can have harmful interactions with alcohol and other drugs.
One factor complicating addiction among older people is that they often live alone. This makes it easier to hide drug and alcohol abuse problems. Also, older people are frequently forgetful or uncoordinated, so the signs can be undetected. Depression and loneliness are a couple of the biggest reasons why older adults deal with addictions, so those are risk factors to watch out for. Other signals of drug and alcohol abuse among seniors are loss of coordination, malnutrition, memory loss, chronic diarrhea, moodiness, isolation, lack of interest, failure to keep up hygiene, changed sleeping habits, and unexplained bruises.
Once an addiction is discovered in an older adult, it’s difficult to know how to handle it. If the problem is not severe, getting the individual out of the house and into more social interactions may help. A doctor can do screening tests for drugs and alcohol. Addiction treatment may be necessary. Many types of treatment programs are available, such as support groups as well as outpatient and residential rehab centers. A lot of people recommend using medications to treat addiction in the elderly.
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