Older People Addiction Rates Rising

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Feb. 4, 2023 – It’s easy to forget that older people can suffer from what doctors call “substance abuse disorder” just like everyone else. They’re hardly immune.

“We normally think the age of highest risk for substance abuse is the 20s and 30s,” said Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., director of the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions at University at Buffalo. “And overall, the problem tends to decline with age. But over the last 15 years, we’ve seen an increase in addiction in older people.”

Leonard, 68, speculates that some people of his generation face a risk of substance abuse after they retire. With more free time and fewer responsibilities, they can relive an earlier chapter in their life.

“Alcohol and substance use in the 1960s was on the increase,” he said. “Now they’re getting to an age where they retire and they’re returning to old habits.”

There’s a lack of research on seniors and substance abuse, so it’s hard to pinpoint what’s causing the uptick, Leonard says. But some experts worry it’s becoming a hidden epidemic.