Addiction Among Seniors Called 'Hidden Epidemic'




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Addiction Among Seniors Called 'Hidden Epidemic'

JoinTogether.org

July 21, 2003

Alcohol and other drug addiction among seniors is such a significant and growing problem that one treatment expert called it "America's hidden epidemic," UPI reported July 16.

Carol Colleran, national director of older-adult services at Hanley-Hazelden, a treatment center in West Palm Beach, Fla., said at least 17 percent of Americans age 55 or older have either alcohol or drug problems, or both. However, she said, very few seniors are in treatment programs, because their physicians usually fail to diagnose the problem.

According to Colleran, about two-thirds of older Americans have alcoholism that started before age 50. The remaining one-third developed late-onset addictions, often arising from life changes such as retirement or death or disability of a spouse.

"Our patients often tell me that their whole lives are about loss. They are losing their hair, hearing, teeth, and eyesight and then they lose loved ones and friends," Colleran said.

Often, these seniors are misdiagnosed as being depressed. But Colleran said, "Once we get them through detox, the alcohol-induced depression lifts and we can confirm that alcohol is the real problem."

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, while hospital admissions for alcohol-related problems are equal to those for heart attacks among older Americans, physicians and nurses are "significantly less likely to recognize alcoholism in an older patient than in a younger patient."

Kristine Pringle, a doctoral student at Penn State University's school of health policy and administration, said that Medicare records also show that addiction among the elderly is under diagnosed.

"Several years ago we did a study with researchers at Columbia University," Pringle said. "We interviewed 400 physicians and tested them with a hypothetical case study of an elderly alcoholic. Less than 1 percent of them mentioned alcohol."

Diagnosing drug addiction is just as difficult, because older Americans usually don't use street drugs, but rather abuse their prescription medications.

"The most common addiction is to benzodiazepines, tranquilizer drugs like Valium and Xanax," Colleran said. "Valium was developed as post-trauma medication to be used for 14 days. We have patients who have been taking it for 20 to 25 years."

Noting that prevention is key to curbing addiction among the elderly, Colleran said that Americans should include emotional planning in their retirement preparation.

"We always hear about financial planning for retirement," she said. "But I think that emotional planning is just as important. We need to plan for ways to retain our sense of belonging and being needed by others. An emotional retirement plan could go a long ways toward preventing alcoholism and drug addiction among the elderly."