The Older Alcoholic

Unless treated effectively, alcoholism progressively gets worse, so, when considering the older alcoholic, one sad fact stands out — many alcoholics die prematurely – they don’t become “older alcoholics”. Those who live to drink for years and enter late-stage alcoholism suffer greatly, and often, practically, alone. Below is taken from NIH:

Alcohol-Related Deaths:

• • An estimated 88,000⁵ people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women⁵) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.⁶
  • In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities).⁷

Older alcoholics entering treatment are often in denial, and they’ll say they don’t drink as they did in their younger days. The family will tell a different story about constant drunkenness. Both sides are usually correct. The older alcoholic likely has liver damage that prevents the liver from functioning properly, so it takes less alcohol to produce inebriation. The older alcoholic (or, the older person with an alcohol use disorder) has been drinking so long that inebriation seems like a normal state — the person can no longer see themselves as others see them.

The older alcoholic often says they have earned the right to do what they want to do, after all, if they’re hurting themselves, it’s nobody’s business. They can’t see how loved ones are affected by their mental and emotional absence. Soon, if the person continues to drink, serious physical conditions will develop and reality will have its say regardless of the person’s denial. You can find online all the physical complications that arise from long term alcoholism, and all the causes of the premature death.

The sad thing about a person living to an old age with an alcohol use disorder is that it eventually evolves into a living nightmare that can linger for years. Family members watch helplessly as the person destroys himself or herself one drink at a time. The person the family and friends once knew is gone. Often the older alcoholic, deep down, wants to quit, but they just can’t find a way out. There is hope. There is way out for people in late-stage alcoholism. It’s difficult, but recovery can happen at any age — the physical damage might be irreversible, but at least the person can live with dignity for the time remaining.