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Drug Rehab for Seniors and Those Older

If you or your loved one is a senior citizen suffering from drug addiction, the time to seek help is now. Untreated substance abuse can lead to health problems, financial difficulties and ultimately, premature death. Call American Addiction Centers today at 800-890-1956 so that we can refer you for free to a high-quality rehab facility.

Is senior citizen drug abuse really a problem?

Yes. In the United States, it’s a serious, growing problem. In 2005, 184,400 Americans who were admitted to drug rehab programs – 10% of the total were over 50-years-old, up from 143,000, or 8% of the total, four years earlier.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which released the figures, expects 4.4 million older substance abusers by 2020.

Here are some traits of these senior citizen addicts:

  1. Alcohol abuse is the dominant problem, though prescription drug abuse is rising fast. Alcohol rehab is desperately needed for many in this age group.
  2. Older adults are harder to lure into treatment, in part because of a generational reluctance to airing one’s dirty laundry in public. Interventions may be necessary to get some seniors into alcohol rehab or drug rehab.
  3. Once in treatment, senior citizens are often highly motivated and are more likely to complete a program.
  4. Some types of drug abuse, such as use of street drugs like crack and heroin, are less common among older adults.
  5. Many senior citizen addicts do best in a treatment program that is focused on older adults.

What are the benefits of a seniors’ drug rehab program?

The behavior of older addicts is different than a teenaged or even middle-aged user. Seniors are not as likely to curse at one another, raise their voices in anger or blast music past midnight. Not only are seniors less likely to exhibit such behavior, they often prefer not to be around others who act this way. This is why senior-specific treatment programs are so important – they surround recovering addicts with others that they can relate to, making group-therapy sessions much more productive.

“We have different health issues, different emotional issues, different grief issues,” Patrick Gallagher, a 66-year-old recovering addict, told the New York Times.  “We need more peace and quiet and a different pace.”

The fundamentals of senior-focused treatment:

Older clients should receive treatment in a peaceful, age-appropriate setting with the necessary building blocks of rehab, including:

  1. Medically-supervised, compassionate drug detox
  2. Individual and group counseling supervised by addiction recovery specialists
  3. Holistic drug treatment that treats the entire person, not just their addiction
  4. A comprehensive outpatient treatment regimen to ensure the client STAYS clean. This may include referrals to support groups, and other ongoing treatment focused on relapse prevention.

There are countless reasons to enter rehab, today.

Life moves fast. Sometimes the days we have on this earth seem like many, but they’re gone before we know it. Don’t let your last days or those of your loved ones be filled with the blackouts, self-doubt and depression that come from addiction.

Dan Fitzsimmons, a 79-year-old recovering alcoholic, let his drinking get out of hand while in retirement; he had too much time on his hands and a shrinking circle of friends. Nowadays, Fitzsimmons is determined to leave a proper legacy for his grandchildren. He thinks back to when he was a teenager, and was assigned to find his alcoholic grandfather in neighborhood bars.

Fitzsimmons still has the memory of that “old gray-haired guy” out on another drinking binge. “I’m not going to let that happen to me,” Fitzsimmons told the New York Times. “It’s not the way I want to be remembered.”

No matter your insurance, be it Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Blue Cross / Blue Shield (BCBS), Assurant, Unicare, United Health Care, Anthem, Carefirst, Asuris Northwest Health, Golden Rule, Celtic Insurance, Fortis, Health Net, Kaiser, Vista, Shelter, Wellpoint, Tri Care, Accordia or even Medicare, and state insurance – we can help you find a women’s drug rehab facility. We also offer many affordable self pay options as well as luxury senior drug rehab.