02-21-2024 PTL - Flipbook - Page 4
4 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, February 21, 2024
MENTAL HEALTH
Substance use
disorder in
older adults
A growing problem with
myriad factors
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
It’s not an
epidemic. Yet.
However, those in the know are seeing
more incidences of substance use disorder
(SUD) and substance-related complications
among baby boomers than ever before.
There isn’t just one reason for this. We need
to recognize that baby boomers are a large
cohort. The oldest are almost 80 years old.
What no one expected was that they would
develop an SUD – addictions – more than
expected.
In 2001, when there were 1.7 million
cases, experts predicted that by 2020, there
would be 4.4 million people affected. They
were completely off the mark. Based on
a recent national survey done in 2021 by
SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, part of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), 13.4 million Americans over
50 have SUD. And according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, drug
overdose-induced deaths in people over 65
have tripled in the last two decades.
Then these contributed to the problem…
• Substance use disorders are often
underdiagnosed,
misdiagnosed,
undertreated or untreated. No one
talked about it or chalked it up to
problems with aging: falling, forgetting
words, dozing off or slurring speech.
So, often, we didn’t know what we
were observing.
• Until recently, older adults and substance use disorder were not discussed in either substance abuse or
gerontological literature. Worse, there
is a lack of gerontologists and geriatricians to treat our aging population.
Even if the literature alerted clinicians
who treated older adults, too many of
them were also treating patients of all
ages, so not enough providers would
see it.
• SUD among older persons is among
the fastest growing health problems in
the United States.
We also have to look at ageism as a reason most people are unaware of this issue
until it hits home. What is ageism? One
definition says, “it’s a tendency for society to
assign negative stereotypes to older adults
and to explain away their problems as a
function of “being old” rather than looking
for specific medical, social or psychological
causes.” That’s why it’s not so surprising
that we don’t recognize it.
About the Experts
Brian Altman, J.D.
Director of the National Mental Health
and Substance Use Policy Laboratory
(NMHSUPL) at SAMHSA. Altman served
as the Deputy Director Administration on
Aging, the principal agency of the U.S
Department of Health and Human Services
designated to carry out the provisions of the
Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA). The
OAA promotes the well-being of older individuals by providing services and programs
designed to help them live independently in
their homes and communities.
Dr. Ming R. Wang
Associate Medical Director at Caron
Treatment Centers. He also serves as medical director for the Older Adult Programs at
Caron Treatment Centers, one of the few
rehabilitation centers with specialized units
for older adults with SUD. Dr. Wang is a
clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at
Penn State College of Medicine. He is also
a faculty member of the Caron-Reading
Hospital Addiction Medicine Fellowship and
teaches the local and regional residents
and medical students who rotate at Caron
Treatment Centers.
