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DRINKING BACK THE YEARS

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Recovery is something you have to work on every single day, and it’s something that doesn’t get a day off.

man drinking alcohol

Brad Lamm, CIPman drinking alcohol

The Golden Years, time for retirement, a slow-down, and for more and more Americans these days, consuming alcohol at alarming levels. More and more folks retire only to segue seamlessly from working a job to working an active addiction.

According to a study published in the journal ADDICTION, about 2.8 million older adults in the United States qualify as suffering from alcohol abuse. This number is expected to hit 5.7 million by the year 2020.  The wave is rising, no doubt.

But why? Why do you think? Comment below and chime in to join the conversation.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration states that in 2008 there were 232,300 people over 50 who received treatment for substance abuse. The number was just 102,700 in 1992.

Wisdom from my front to the why includes:

  • Doctors prescribing prescription pills recklessly having played a role
  • Life expectancy growing, giving more time to retire and swim (or sink with alcohol)

For older Americans, it’s booze over drugs for sure, yet not always of course. According to a 2013 report “the rate of illicit drug use among adults 50 to 64 increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 6.0 percent in 2013.”

Often the drinking doesn’t change for the elders, but as age increases, one’s tolerance lessens and what worked before with a younger body processing the booze, works differently today.

Paul Sacco, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Maryland told the New York Times, “There’s this lore, this belief, that as people get older they become less treatable.” They feel they are too old to be helped. What a sad and false way to look at the world.

We suffer, at all ages. Refrain from telling yourself that someone you love is too old to change, or it’s too private an issue to bring up. Check out my book HOW TO HELP THE ONE YOU LOVE for more on how to help, right where you are today.

We can and do recover at all ages.

If you or someone you love, old or young is struggling with the disease of addiction call Breathe Life Healing Centers Admission Lines today and let us help you recover. We specialize in all substance addictions. Everyone deserves help. You are never too old to appreciate the beauty of life through recovery.

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