Challenges Of Different Age Groups In Recovery Posted by Into Action Treatment on July 7, 2015 in Articles, We Do Recover Addiction recovery encompasses many age levels. From pre teen to teen to middle age and elderly, it has no boundaries. At present, one in 10 people aged 12 and above are considered addicts or alcoholics. As the body ages it undergoes a myriad of chemical and physical changes. These changes determine how the person will react to outside influences such as drug and alcohol abuse in the various age brackets.
First Time Users According to statistics, the younger a person is when they first try alcohol or drugs, the more likely that person is to become an alcoholic or an addict later in life. Approximately 33 percent of alcoholics and drug addicts took their first drink or drug between the ages of 15 and 17 years old. Approximately 18 percent of alcoholics and addicts were under the age of 12 years old when they first took a drink or drug. According to these statistics, the younger a person is when they first drink or take drugs, the more serious the problem of addiction is later in their life.
Teens, Drugs, Alcoholism And Binge Drinking Teens and young adults between 18 and 22 years old are more likely to binge drink. They will make it through the work week or school week and then go out and party for the weekend. Currently, it’s estimated that about three million of these teens and young adults are going to go on to become full blown alcoholics or addicts.
Of the above mentioned three million teens and young adults, 5000 of them will be dead by the end of the year due to the underage drinking and drugs. These deaths can be from car wrecks or alcohol or drug related activities.
These teens and young adults find it challenging to hold down a job, reach their life’s goals, make it through school, fall in love, marry, buy a house, become financially independent and many of them have serious health issues due to the binge drinking and their drug addictions.
Psychological Issues To further complicate matters, many of the reasons these youth begin to drink or take drugs in the first place are due to psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, anti social personality disorders and oppositional defiant disorder or, ODD as it’s commonly referred to.
When faced with such challenges in addiction both the addiction as well as the psychological issues must be addressed in the recovery phase in order for the patient to fully recover from their addiction.
Other Influences Children aren’t just influenced by their peers, they are also influenced by the parents, their parents friends and other family members who may be drinking or taking drugs as well. Alcoholism and drug addiction can be a family addiction and is frequently genetic. A full course of treatment may well
involve an entire family becoming clean and sober.
Age 65 And Older Everyone knows that drug addiction and alcoholism are dangerous, however, as the person ages their dependence on drugs and alcohol can lead to even more health risks including organ damage, cancers, brain damage, diabetes, heart conditions (including high blood pressure), symptoms that are similar to Alzheimer’s and a myriad of other health related issues too numerous to mention.
To make matters even more complicated, those over the age of 65 may be under a doctors care and on medications for other health related issues that when combined with street drugs or alcohol could cause deadly consequences.
Those in this age bracket that choose to take drugs and drink alcohol tend to do it more because of boredom, depression, anxiety and even the fact that they are lonely. In order to treat these patients, not only the root cause must be addressed, but also the specific reasons that the patient is choosing to self medicate.
Additionally, those over the age of 65 have discovered how much better they feel if they simply pop an extra pain pill or sleeping pill now and again. This habit can rapidly escalate and before long the patient is not only an alcoholic, they are also addicted to pain pills and sleeping pills. All of which can have lethal consequences if not discovered in time.
Clearly each age bracket has its own specific challenges in drug and alcohol treatment. Obviously, the sooner the situation is discovered, addressed and treated, the higher the likelihood of a successful outcome. Education for the younger generations must start in grade school to be completely effective. Those who are growing up in families that have a history of drug and alcohol addiction must find ways to break the cycle and protect the future generations of their families.
For those that fall between the cracks, treatment should be started as soon as the condition is discovered. The sooner treatment begins the sooner the patient can get back to enjoying their life without being drug down by drugs and alcohol.