BAD HABITS

 Do folks over 65 have bad habits? No. We outgrow bad habits. They just fall away in time. Or at least we like to think so. Our senior citizen men and women (like me) are sweet. They are wise. They are not alcoholics.  Nor are they drug addicts.  

Except they might be.

Dependence on drugs happens innocuously…with good intentions, while we’re not looking.

“I’ll have a little red wine before dinner.”

“I’ve heard it’s good for the heart.”

“Blue Zone residents drink wine all the time.”

Beware of when a little wine before dinner becomes a little wine at lunch. And then maybe a celebration. “This whiskey is brewed in my home town…and besides it’s the Fourth of July.”

With enough celebratory beverages the imbiber no longer feels lonely, depressed or isolated. It’s uplifting. For a minute.

Bad habits may even start with doctors. I’ve had an appointment with a new doctor with the end result being a declaration. “Anxiety!” he proclaimed and ripped off a prescription from his pad for a drug I neither needed or wanted. That incident happened in this decade. And it explains how some super agers get hooked on drugs. Doctors. Innocent, well-meaning doctors. As well as innocent, well-meaning friends. Might even be your sister. The man or woman you love. Age is not shield. It doesn’t defend us against questionable thoughts or actions. If it did submachine guns would not be available to grandma.

In my infancy I worked at rock radio stations during the late 60’s and early 70’s. My positions were in Miami and Los Angeles. Drug gateways. Drugs to make a person feel good were easily attainable and many air personalities felt they owed their high ratings, and therefore their jobs, to being…well, yes, high. (I was not an air personality - also known as disc jockeys - but I required creativity to write. In the spirit of confession, I have walked into cloudy control rooms and I gave in to curiosity once and did inhale something that was handed to me at a radio party.)

However, that was then and this is now. Motivations are different but stronger than we would like. Dealing in drugs is in the hope of feeling better, or feeling nothing at all. Drug users are no longer lonely, confused or seeking bliss. Or even youth. They need arthritis relief.

The thought there might be a drug even better than what’s been prescribed initiate experiments. If certain drugs prove to be illegal, well the old junkie rationalizes. ”I’m gonna die soon anyway. Might as well die happy.”  Or “Hey, if I get jail time I’ll at least have someone to talk to in the cell.”

Sneaky substance abuse. Without noticing you start needing and taking more. Age is not an excuse or a defense.

Drugs are drugs, including Alcohol. Folks often forget and ignore the fact they are ordering more or needing a bigger cart at the liquor store. “I’m having a party!”

And yes, a sure sign of big problems is the sign on your porch: It’s Five o’clock somewhere.

A 2023 national survey on drug use and health estimated that over two million people aged 65 and over met the criteria for an alcohol disorder.

Bad habits, i.e.drugs, can claim an older person anytime, anywhere.

Think about these stats. Baby boomers have the highest rate for use and abuse of drugs; drugs used as a coping mechanism for boredom and grief. A 2023 National survey on drug use and health estimated that 2.7 million people aged 65 and older met the criteria for an alcohol disorder. That means they are alcoholics. 

Heavy drinking according to the CDC means fifteen or more a week for men, eight drinks per week for women. Worse, as we age many of us develop increased sensitivity to alcohol, to those eight a week beverages, or even one a day.  One might feel like two in time.

Don’t let new bad habits happen to you. Remember the battle cry of Galaxy Quest…Never Surrender! Never Give-up!