Elderly Drug Abuse Essay

Throughout high school I worked at a family owned pharmacy, Rapoport. My boss, who is a business owner and a pharmacist often turned away customers that had a prescription for opiates, which are pain relievers known to the induce a sense of euphoria (Center for Applied Research Solutions). We carried different many forms of opiates which included tablets, gels, liquids, and injections, but all were equally addictive. He especially refused to dispense elders prescriptions, people who are 65 and older, because he knew that every painkiller he decided to prescribe is a risk where he could potentially lose not only the license to his business, but also the right to practice medicine. My boss was smart enough to realize that elders are often viewed
as feeble and innocent and in turn, they are almost never suspected for drug abuse (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). Elders account for one third of the United States’ drug abuse, especially by using opiates, and this number is continuing to grow each year (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health). As elders are becoming more dependent on opiates, they become sufferers of drug addiction, endangering not only themselves as less-than-alert elderly citizens but having an adverse effect on those who care for them (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse). In order to combat this issue, more programs should be created to help elders prevent their dependence on opiates and medications should be more closely monitored.
Elders are generally considered to be experienced because of the many situations they have already faced and therefore have more wisdom.
It logical to think that seniors have coping mechanisms. However, many seniors actually lack coping mechanisms which is why elders who experience chronic pain often turn to medications, especially opiates, for relief (Royal College of Psychiatrists). One of the most prominent reasons for opiate drug abuse amongst elders is due to retirement where a majority of the elderly population transition from facing busy work schedules to empty agendas (Addiction Center). Other triggers are essentially caused by emotional distress which include death of a close family member, financial hardships, insomnia, and or family issues (AAFP Foundation). Many elders do not intentionally turn to opiates for relief, it is actually the brain of chronic pain sufferers who mix physical pain with emotional pain, resulting in patients to think that their mental pain is caused by the physical pain they feel and therefore think they need to increase their dosage of painkillers to create the sense of euphoria to cope (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse).
Similar to any other type of addiction, the abuse of painkillers have negative effects, especially for elders as their abilities to metabolize drugs are declining due to the aging process (Addiction Center).
A case study was recorded of a 74-year old woman, Mrs. M, whose caretaker stated that Mrs. M became “paranoid, anxious, and then delirious” after a different doctor increased her dosage of opiates after explaining to her doctor that she needed more to manage the “back pain she was dealing with” (Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc.). In reality, as Mrs. M’s caretaker stated, she did not seem to need an increase in dosage because the patient’s back problems were already improving as seen with the x-ray scans from a different
doctor.
The symptoms that Mrs. M faced are very common amongst elders who are addicted to prescription painkillers as more than 80 percent of drug abusers face the same symptoms (Improving End-of-Life Care 3rd Ed.). When people are paranoid, anxious, or delirious, they are not in the right in the right state of mind which can lead to negative social effects such as deterioration of relationships and alienation from society as Mrs. M faced (Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc.). Another point to note is that 43.31 percent of opiate drug abusers have reported attempting suicide (World Health Organization). That just goes to show how much suffrage the reliance of opiate drugs is causing on elders. Ultimately, the addiction to opiates is triggered by emotional distress, but being addicted to these medications is also adding to the emotional distress as elders develop more symptoms.
One solution is to help seniors is by finding an activity for seniors to be immersed in to prevent them from viewing retirement as a time in their life where they are living without a purpose. Activities should include children because children often bring magic into the room and studies have proven that when elders interact with children, seniors increase their self-esteem, communication, and decision-making skills (Seniorly). For example, when I volunteered as my local library as an events coordinator, I hosted arts and crafts events for children ranging from kindergarten through 6th grade and worked in groups with elders. In my experience, it created a positive bonding experience between the two parties where the children improved their test scores and elders said “spending time with the youngers made them really happy.”
Another solution is to have a group of intermediary in the healthcare system whose job is to closely monitor elder’s pain medications. Not only will this open up new job opportunities, but medication dispensing will be kept under control. While this solution may seem costly, it would save money in the long run as elders would not even have the chance to overuse painkillers. If elders stop the use of painkillers when they are supposed to, think about how much money could be saved. As mentioned earlier, the majority of those abusing opiates are seniors who have a federal government program such as Medicare as their insurance company. Medicare reported spending $103 billion in pharmaceuticals, think about how much of that money is spent on wasted drugs (Kaiser Health). With better speculation of drug allocation, the money spent on seniors abusing drugs could be used towards other issues such as improving the education system.
Overall, the rate of opiate drug abuse amongst elders is a growing problem and is harmful to them as it forces seniors to lose a part of themselves. To prevent the percentage of this issue from rising and combat this issue altogether, more programs and activities should be implemented to help elders improve their mental health. Another solution is to follow patient files more closely to ensure that patients are receiving the correct quantities, which is also beneficial to our economy by creating an intermediary in our healthcare system. Ultimately, these solutions are beneficial to children and society in general, but most importantly, the seniors who suffer from addiction to opiates.