UK: Increasing Substance Use As Coping Mechanism in Baby Boomers
Drug use and binge use of alcohol among baby boomers is a rapidly growing problem, doctors say per The Times.
In 2015, 45% of those admitted to hospital for alcohol-related reasons were aged between 55 and 74, up from 36% in 2005.
Experts said the seeds had been sown by unregulated alcohol advertising and permissive attitudes to harmful substances such as alcohol and cannabis in the boomers’ youth. Life events such as retirement and bereavement would drive them to use alcohol and other drugs as a coping mechanism.
Public health crisis looming
We are looking at the next two decades of real hell in terms of what the future has in store for public health burden and clinical burden,” said Dr Tony Rao, consultant old age psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Rao is co-author of a study being published in the BMJ warning that NHS drug and alcohol services need to adapt to the requirements of the older generation. The number of over-50s being treated for problems related to substance misuse is expected to double in Europe by 2020, it warns, with risky alcohol use declining in all age groups “except among people aged 50 and older”.
Data from the 2015 health survey for England showed that 11% of the 55-64 age group had used alcohol every day of the previous week compared with 2% of those aged 25-34.
The 2016-17 crime survey for England and Wales found that drug use among those aged 55-59 had doubled to 2% between 1996 and 2016, mainly driven by cannabis use.
Public Health England warned in July 2017 that the average man or woman would spend their entire retirement in ill health.
When the baby boomers were young, alcohol was marketed as a key part of a glamorous life and health risks were not as well known. Of additional concern is the increasing proportion of women using alcohol later in later life – after an onslaught of alcohol industry marketing trying to convert women to consumers.
At particular risk are those whose alcohol consumption is triggered by life events such as retirement, bereavement, change in home situation, infrequent contact with family and friends, and social isolation. The rise of alcohol misuse in “baby boomers” (people born between 1946 and 1964) has also been noted in Asian countries.
Older people with substance misuse show different characteristics but most fall into one of three groups:
- maintainers (unchanged lifetime patterns),
- survivors (long term problem users), and
- reactors (later uptake or increased patterns).
The distinction is important because each requires different assessment, intervention, and treatment regimens,” writes Dr Rao, the Co-Chair of Older Person’s Substance Misuse Working Group at The Royal College of Psychiatrists.