Strong healthy living can put up preventative barriers and avoid the trappings of addictions.

The disease of addiction has trapped people from all age groups. People of every age group struggle with addiction, but some group makes up a larger percentage than others.

Teenagers, adults, middle-aged persons, and senior/old people face their own unique challenges on their road to recovery.

Getting sober is comparatively hard for old people, especially those at the ‘after-retirement-stage’ of their lives. Their recovery from addiction is unique and requires special attention, considering their problems are mostly overlooked.

Problems faced by old individuals in their recovery:

Habits are Entrenched:

There is a popular saying, “you can’t teach old dog new tricks.” It means that people of old age will experience more difficulty learning new things or making changes in their lives.

We establish a few habits in our lives as we age. Every year as our age-progressed, these habits become part of our lives. It will feel like you cannot leave your habits behind, no matter what. And that makes a recovery more typical. A decade-old lifestyle is challenging to change. However, it can be done by providing proper care and support. Understanding their dilemma and their struggles will help a lot in recovery.

 Managing Responsibilities is Hard:

Even in old age, a person has many responsibilities like due loans, upcoming retirement, children or grandchildren, community obligations, etc.

Due to these responsibilities, attending group sessions and meetings becomes relatively tricky. Life can be complicated, and sometimes your health doesn’t support you to manage all the chaos. Just like habits, responsibilities are also hard to manage and require support and understanding. Family members or employers should help them to make time for group meetings for recovery.

They Couldn’t find the Reasons to Change:

An addict’s psychology tends to overlook the crisis of addiction until the situation gets terrible. And the same goes for their family. They think everything is fine until something drastic happens. If a person has carried his/her addiction in their later years, they may feel like there is no point in changing their behaviors or habits. They feel like they have no mental or health problems, so there is no need to change anything.

Everything is okay the way it is.

For example, suppose a person is smoking from adulthood and manages to get through it later in his life without facing major health issues. In that case, he will feel like there is no need to change his habit. It is not harming his health, or he is immune to the dangers of smoking.

Suppose something has become a part of a person’s life, and he is facing no negative consequences from it. In that case, it will become a significant struggle to change that habit.

In these cases, we need to teach, motivate, and make them realize that what could possibly happen to them if they do not quit. Or make them realize how important they are to you, and you are just not ready to let them go.

Presence of Strong Triggers:

When an old age person struggles with addiction, then his/her brain remembers so many persons, places, and paraphernalia linked with the feeling of being drunk or high. The Euphoria attached to these places or persons can act as potential triggers and manifold the relapse chances. When a person re-encounters them in his/her life, they experience a strong urge to use their substance again. Their brain loses all rational thoughts and strongly focuses on triggers and Euphoria of getting high.

Everyone in the recovery faces problems with triggers, but older people’s triggers are the most stable ones.

Think about it.

Suppose a person has a happy memory of drinking with family. In that case, it will be impossible for that person to cut out those people from his/her life. But if he will not do it, that same family will serve as a potent trigger for his/her, increasing the chances of relapse.

Before getting old, they had felt many changes in their lives regarding jobs, family, and friends, but it all becomes stable at this age.

Conclusion:

Recovery in old age is comparatively more difficult. We have to understand their struggle and help them accordingly. Although the recovery is much more challenging than people with different age groups, it is not impossible. Try to find the right way to achieve your goal while considering all the factors.

Happy healing in 2021!!!