Substance Use Disorders Skyrocketing Among Older Adults

Deaths from drug and alcohol use are rising among America’s seniors. Drug overdose deaths more than tripled among adults 65 and older during the past two decades and deaths from alcohol abuse increased by more than 18% from 2019 to 2020 among seniors, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Substance use disorders (SUD) are typically not what comes to mind when people think of older adults but Alexis Kuerbis, an expert on substance use among older adults says that it’s time we change our mindset. “We’ve got a public health problem coming at our door — these trends have been increasing for a long time now,” said Kuerbis, Let’s look at some of the reasons why SUDs are increasing among the elderly and how it can impact their health.

When Pain Management Turns to Addiction

A lot of elderly Americans struggle with chronic pain from old age, injuries, terminal illness and autoimmune diseases and 89% of adults 65 and older report taking at least one prescription. The problem starts when they start to abuse these substances by taking more than the recommended dosage.