SUBSTANCE USE/ABUSE DISORDERS
American Psychological Association
Table of Contents
Why Practitioners Need Information
- The prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in adults 65 years of age and older ranges from 25 percent for men and about 1 percent for women. There is a decline in substance abuse for adults over age 60 years.
- Risk factors for alcohol abuse among all adults include genetic predisposition, being male, limited education, low income, and a history of psychiatric disorders, especially depression.
- Stressors are more important contributors to late onset alcohol and drug abuse than to early onset abuse. Common stressors that contribute to alcohol and drug abuse in later adulthood include retirement, relocation, death of a spouse or close relative, conflict within the family, financial concerns, and physical health problems.
- Older widowers have the highest prevalence rates of alcohol abuse among older adults.
- Regular alcohol consumption may lead to other medical problems for older adults because of the physiological changes that accompany aging. A major problem for older adults who consume excess alcohol is malnutrition, because they may fail to eat a balanced diet.
- Excess alcohol consumption may lead to cirrhosis of the liver, one of the eight leading causes of death in older adults.
- Another alcohol-related problem is osteomalacia, or thinning of the bones.
- Excess alcohol intake is also related to a decrease in the ability of the stomach to absorb food.
- The most frequent and serious problem with chronic alcohol use in older adulthood is a decline in cognitive functioning. Chronic alcohol abuse may lead to major declines in memory and information processing.
- Over many years of alcohol abuse, the effects of these physical and cognitive changes lead to significant impairment in most persons who survive past middle age. The same is true for those who begin to drink heavily in later life.
- The abuse of drugs by older adults typically takes the form of abuse of prescription medications, tranquilizers, and sedatives. One-fourth of medications used in this country are taken by adults over 65 years of age, including prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. Some of the most commonly used drugs among older adults are tranquilizers and sleeping pills.
- Because of physiological changes associated with aging, drug toxicity is more likely in later than in younger adulthood.
- Combining alcohol and drugs, especially tranquilizers and sleeping pills, is especially dangerous, as there may be a cumulative depressant effect on the central nervous system.
EXCESS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MAY LEAD TO CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER, ONE OF THE EIGHT LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN OLDER ADULTS.