New drug statistics show that the number of painkiller-addicted seniors is on the rise. USA Today published a study conducted by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that found that the number of senior citizens addicted to painkiller and anxiety medication has tripled in the last decade. This goes to show that the prescription drug epidmic is leaving no demographic unaffected.
The drug statistics collected showed that 1 in 4 adults, 50+ primarily use opioids for joint pain and benzodiazepines for anxiety. In addition to habit-forming risks, the drugs can cause disorientation and imbalance, increasing the risk of falling. At high doses, a combination of the drugs can impair respiratory function, which can be fatal for a senior weakened with illness.
Last year, 55 million opioid prescriptions were written for people 65+ (that’s a 20 percent increase in just five years). Emergency room visits from the misuse of these prescribed drugs climbed more than 50 percent from 2007 to 2011. And the number of people from this demographic, seeking susbtance abuse treatment from this period increased 46 percent.
There main challenged with this demographic are doctors without the proper training in addiction, trying to treat ailing patients with highly addictive drugs. The second problem is the stigma that surrounds the older population. Thse are difficult drugs to get off of and many people find it difficult to take away an older, ailing person’s medication.
Here are some warning signs that an older family member or friend may have a prescription drug abuse problem:
- Changes in sleep patterns and/or appetite that cannot be attributed to other reasons
- Increased falling
- Frequently changing physicians or “doctor shopping” to get multiple prescriptions
- Filling prescriptions at multiple pharmacies
- New onset irritability or agitation
- Periods of confusion
- Empty liquor bottles in the garbage or recycling bucket.
