An increasing number of drug abusers are addicted not to illegal drugs, but to medically prescribed drugs. This is even more surprising because among them are the elderly who use prescription drugs. Correctly following medication bottle instructions, mixing medications, forgetting to take medications, and checking for help are all common among Elderly People which contribute to prescription drug abuse.
Although this type of abuse is common in the elderly, it is often misunderstood by doctors and neglected by family members. Prescription drug abuse is present in 12% to 15% of elderly people who seek medical attention. Health problems related to substance abuse cost Medicare two hundred and thirty-three million dollars in 1989, and probably account for much greater costs today. Although 60% of substance abuse is diagnosed in patients under the age of 60, only 37% is diagnosed in patients over the age of 60. Doctors often fail to recognize substance abuse in the elderly for a variety of reasons.
1. Ignorance in the doctor
2. A recommendation from a doctor by way of suggesting that an elderly patient be overshadowed by abuse.
3. Guilt perceives the importance of substance abuse in the elderly
4. What he forbade, let him have little pleasure.
Elderly substance abuse can be divided into categories, prescription abuse and non-prescription abuse. The elderly population accounts for 14% of our population, consuming as much as 25% of the prescription medications in this summary. country Many medications are inappropriately prescribed to older people and 25% of prescriptions lack appropriate patient and patient information.
Benzodiazepines (Valium) and narcotics (Librium) are two prescribed drugs of abuse by the elderly. Over the counter, sleep medication are the most commonly abused non-prescription medications for the elderly. Like younger patients who abuse prescription drugs, elder abusers have significant psychiatric problems due to addiction. Unlike younger addicts, though, elderly patients are more likely to have physical and neurological complications due to addiction.
Protecting against drug abuse in the elderly can be difficult, as most are in denial about symptoms and use. Surveys of elderly community-based populations indicate that 17% to 20% are taking highly addictive psychotropic-medications. About half indicate the use of these drugs outside of the prescribed order. Most elderly patients will try and hide their inappropriate prescription drug use, visiting multiple doctors and obtaining numerous prescriptions for Valium and narcotics. Usually when an elderly patient goes to the doctor, there are so many types of medicine that it requires the use of a shopping bag filled with bottles. Most doctors ask their elderly patients to bring all their medications with them to each visit, both prescription and non-prescription.
If the doctor finds an excessive prescription of drugs, benzodiazepines or sedative drugs, then it must be assumed that the patient probably abused drugs.
Whether an elderly patient is being abused or not is taking his bio-medical medication from a doctor. We need to know whether the patient has a biological disease, such as depression, that causes abuse, or whether the abuse is a biochemical disorder of the brain, such as dementia or delirium. Medical complications from the abuse and medical problems that may have been made worse by the abuse should be examined. Psychological illness among the elderly can cause addictive behavior, but to fix the medical condition, that is the patient’s need for a doctor. to prescribe the same drugs that the patient abused.
Elderly patients have a mix of social and functional dependencies that encourage addictive behaviors. After a certain age, when they can’t do the social things they take for granted and then they start having problems doing the things that everyone has to do every day in life, it’s easy for them to just pop the pill; no old hat, as long as it helps them continue to live independently. This need to remain independent plays a large part in the complexity of any medical plan that is put in place when it comes to helping an elderly patient who is abusing their drug.
The long-term care and management of the elderly patient who abuses drugs will include a mix of medical, psychiatric, and family involvement. If the abuse is acute, it may require treatment such as an inpatient drug rehab facility. There will be a need for family intervention and the willingness of family members to monitor the patient’s medications and schedules. Any medical complications caused by abuse will require continued medical evaluation.
The way back to health can be long and anxiety elderly patients who have found themselves addicted to prescription drugs. Combinations of self-care, counseling and family support will make the journey to a healthier lifestyle smoother. One in which they can be alert, functional and independent without the need to abuse prescription drugs.
