Abuse of prescription drugs amongst the elderly portion of the population is one of the fastest growing health concerns America currently faces. Older adults have also been found to suffer from alcoholism at rapidly increasing rates. Yet despite the rapidity with which the number of elderly men and women suffering from these disorders climbs, the issue remains overlooked by the vast majority of addiction specialists and healthcare providers. It is now known that upwards of 17% of the elderly population suffers from alcoholism of drug addiction – though the issue still goes widely undertreated. This is partially due to the fact that other psychological disorders, such as dementia and depression, are exceedingly common amongst older adults. However the most common reason that elderly addiction goes untreated is simply because the men and women of this particular generation are typically too ashamed to seek professional treatment for what they consider to be a highly private matter.

Addiction is a Huge Problem Amongst the Elderly

Ageism also plays a huge role in the fact that very few elderly men and women receive the help they need for substance abuse disorders. There seems to be an unspoken yet extremely persistent assumption that there is no real need to treat addiction in seniors seeing as their time on this Earth is inevitably limited. Many assume that treating addiction in this generation would simply be a waste of valuable healthcare reserves that would otherwise be allotted to young men and women with potentially expansive futures. In reality, however, substance abuse takes a far greater mental and physical toll on the elderly than it does the younger portion of the population. And because life expectancy rates continue to steadily climb, the issue will soon be flagrant and not so easily hidden or disregarded.

The Issue Of Addiction In The Elderly Must Be Addressed

While alcohol abuse is the most prevalent issue amongst the elderly, benzodiazepine abuse is quickly catching up. Somewhere around 20% of the elderly population is prescribed benzodiazepines, and many drug-induced cases of delirium or mental disarray are wrongly labeled Alzheimer’s or dementia, and en and women are placed in nursing homes based on the diagnosis of mentally deteriorating disorders they do not, in actuality, suffer from. This invisible epidemic is growing in severity on a daily basis, and soon it will be impossible to ignore. If you have an elderly family member that has begun to act strangely but has not shown stereotypical signs of dementia, the likelihood that he or she is suffering from substance dependency is high – and if so, he or she deserves to be professionally treated just as much as anyone.