How Age Affects Substance Use
- Oct 13, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 12
Substance use can affect anyone at any stage of life, and the unique challenges that come with age can significantly influence how and why it develops. This article will help you understand the specific risk factors and stressors that are more common in later life, empowering you with the knowledge to identify and address these issues effectively.
What unique struggles with addiction can arise in later life?
Later in life, new challenges such as empty nest syndrome, retirement, and the high stress of professional careers can contribute to substance use. These major life changes can lead to feelings of loneliness, boredom, and anxiety, which some individuals may try to cope with using drugs or alcohol.
To learn more about the specific risk factors and how to approach recovery at any age, continue reading the full article.
How does aging influence the development of substance use issues?
Addiction is a disease that isn’t bound by any kind of social, racial, or economic barriers. It can affect any person at any point in life. One’s age is another non-factor when it comes to the diagnosis of the disease.
However, while addiction can affect anybody, age does dictate how one may approach their unique situation throughout the recovery process. Many professionals, parents, or other adults may feel like they are in control of their use, but dangerous relationships with addictive substances can result from a number of different sources, some of which are unique to the later stages in one’s life.
How Age Affects Substance Use: Addressing the Stigma of Age
With age comes a kind of expected experience and control. Those holding professional positions are expected to continue to moderate their emotional wellbeing and healthy coping strategies while simultaneously being tasked with financial burdens, a social life complicated by one’s work schedule, and the body and mind’s simple need to rest.
However, while such expectations may be placed on an individual, that doesn’t make navigating these things any easier. It can often lead an individual to push down feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression rather than process these feelings based on these stigmas placed upon them. The need for healthy outlets is essential at any age, especially as the sources of one’s stresses become more complex and of greater financial and social consequence.
The Unique Struggles of Age
Age presents new hurdles to overcome that can affect one’s relationship with addictive substances. For some, drugs may not have become a part of one’s life until later on as aches, pains, or other health complications became more prevalent, and prescriptions were introduced, then misused. Others may find different routes that lead to substance use, such as empty nest syndrome, retirement, and the stresses of a professional career.
The Stress of an Empty Nest
Being a parent is a rewarding experience, but when one’s children successfully move out and begin their own lives and journeys, it can introduce a unique kind of loneliness and grief. While one’s days may have been filled with caring and entertaining one’s children, their absence can leave a void in one’s daily routines, bringing feelings of loneliness, boredom, sadness, and depression. Filling this time with drugs or alcohol can be a common practice to bolster one’s mood, and feelings of isolation can leave an individual’s use unchecked.
Filling Boredom in Retirement
Retirement can present many different issues. While finally excusing oneself from the workforce and focusing on one’s own hobbies and interests is an enticing prospect, the change in schedule and free time can be a jarring experience. What once was a regimented day between one’s professional life and obligations is now open. Filling this time with drinking or drugs to pass the time can be a common, yet dangerous, practice to fill this newfound time and boredom.
The Stresses of Professional Life
The workplace is a place of intense stress for many, especially in the case of high-risk or high-profile positions such as business executives, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and any other first responders or individuals who spend their professional life under public scrutiny.
These professions can be populated with strict time-frames, high-stress scenarios, and high levels of consequence riding on an individual’s decisions, leading to a great deal of mental and emotional fatigue from the workplace and introducing a new, complicated, and potent force of stress that isn’t prevalent during one’s earlier years in life.
Approaching Recovery at Any Age
Just as addiction isn’t limited to any particular age group, neither is recovery. However, different recovery communities can be more or less prevalent in one’s unique situation. While overcoming the stigmas associated with one’s age can be a struggle, finding a recovery community of peers in similar situations can help an individual begin to accept and bridge themselves to an effective recovery community.
Programs focused on the trials of first responders, business professionals, parents, and more are all available, each of which is in place to deconstruct this stigma while providing pertinent and understanding support. Having peers at a similar stage in life can help each individual feel better heard and understood in their struggles.
Sharing these stresses alongside other parents, professionals, first responders, or other peers can provide powerful feelings of acceptance while developing specialized coping strategies throughout one’s unique recovery journey.
Vigilance regarding one’s substance use is essential at any age, with one’s age and experience constantly introducing new stressors or hardships. However, recovery is always available to help each individual take their step towards a healthy and sober future.
Frequently Ask Questions:
• What are some of the unique struggles related to age that can lead to substance use?
Age presents new hurdles that can affect a person's relationship with addictive substances, such as aches and pains leading to prescription misuse, or life changes like empty nest syndrome and retirement creating feelings of boredom or loneliness.
• How can an "empty nest" lead to substance use?
When children move out, parents may experience a unique kind of loneliness or grief. The absence of children can leave a void in daily routines, and some may turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with feelings of loneliness, boredom, sadness, or depression.
• How can retirement contribute to substance use?
Retirement can be a jarring experience due to the change in schedule and newfound free time. Some individuals may fill this time with drinking or drugs to pass the time and combat boredom.
• What role does professional life play in substance use for older adults?
High-stress positions like those held by business executives, police officers, or first responders can lead to significant mental and emotional fatigue, introducing a potent force of stress that may not have been present in earlier life. This can lead to substance use as a coping mechanism.
• What is the best way to approach recovery as an older adult?
Finding a recovery community of peers in similar situations can be very helpful. Programs focused on the trials of specific groups like first responders, business professionals, or parents are available to provide pertinent and understanding support, helping individuals feel better heard and understood in their struggles.
We understand that addiction isn't limited by age, and the unique challenges you face in later life require a specialized approach. That's why we at Chateau Health and Wellness Treatment Center are dedicated to partnering with you to create a personalized recovery plan. Whether you're navigating the stresses of a demanding career, adjusting to an empty nest, or facing other life changes, we're here to offer our support. We believe that with our help, you can find a path to recovery that works for you. Contact us today at (435) 222-5225 to begin your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling future.
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About The Author
Ben Pearson, LCSW - Clinical Director
With 19 years of experience, Ben Pearson specializes in adolescent and family therapy, de-escalation, and high-risk interventions. As a former Clinical Director of an intensive outpatient program, he played a key role in clinical interventions and group therapy. With 15+ years in wilderness treatment and over a decade as a clinician, Ben has helped countless individuals and families navigate mental health and recovery challenges.
Danny Warner, CEO of Chateau Health and Wellness
Brings a wealth of experience in business operations, strategic alliances, and turnaround management, with prior leadership roles at Mediconnect Global, Klever Marketing, and WO Investing, Inc. A graduate of Brigham Young University in Economics and History, Danny has a proven track record of delivering results across diverse industries. His most transformative role, however, was as a trail walker and counselor for troubled teens at the Anasazi Foundation, where he directly impacted young lives, a personal commitment to transformation that now drives his leadership at Chateau.
Austin Pederson, Executive Director of Chateau Health and Wellness
Brings over eight years of experience revolutionizing mental health and substance abuse treatment through compassionate care and innovative business strategies. Inspired by his own recovery journey, Austin has developed impactful programs tailored to individuals facing trauma and stress while fostering comprehensive support systems that prioritize holistic wellness. His empathetic leadership extends to educating and assisting families, ensuring lasting recovery for clients and their loved ones.
