The United States is set to be overrun by mental health and substance abuse problems in the soon to be elderly population, a recent report set forth. One doctor called the report €alarmist,€ but then went on to say that he thinks the report is correct. It is estimated that about 8 million older American adults have some sort of mental health problem, whether it be drug addiction, dementia, or severe depression. These problems are only going to be continued as these Americans become older. Of those 8 million, about 2 million have severe mental health issues.
Obviously the elderly have their own special set of needs when it comes to care. The same can be said of people with mental health issues. The combination of the two has created a very unique set of requirements and there are not many doctors or other healthcare professionals out there that are ideally equipped to handle the situation.
Take drugs and alcohol, for example. Older people metabolize these substances differently than younger people and this puts them at a greater risk of overdose. This makes substance abuse counseling very tricky, yet very important. If they continue using drugs as they did when they were younger, they are going to run into serious problems.
Depression is another major issue. Older people with depression are going to be less likely to be able to stick to a rigid regimen of medications, making treating this illness all the more difficult.
Older people with mental health problems also tend to have physical health problems, the study went on to point out. This makes caring for the elderly with mental health issues a lot more difficult, especially because of the growing size of the elderly population.
This isn't so much an issue of there being a higher rate of mental health problems in the Baby Boomer generation, but they do come from a generation where these things were more likely to be professionally diagnosed. They also come from the biggest generation yet to reach their senior citizen years, creating a quite large dilemma for the healthcare industry in charge of caring for these problems. Geriatric care professionals are going to be at a severe shortage, if nothing changes in the current structure.
Unfortunately, the number of people trained for treating both the elderly and people with mental health or substance abuse problems is very limited. This will pose a big problem if nothing is done and could lead to a severe shortage of available healthcare. There are not that many candidates rushing in to fill these positions, either. This is very alarming and hospitals need to find a way to correct this problem or they may be running into a problem like has never been seen before.
Obviously the elderly have their own special set of needs when it comes to care. The same can be said of people with mental health issues. The combination of the two has created a very unique set of requirements and there are not many doctors or other healthcare professionals out there that are ideally equipped to handle the situation.
Take drugs and alcohol, for example. Older people metabolize these substances differently than younger people and this puts them at a greater risk of overdose. This makes substance abuse counseling very tricky, yet very important. If they continue using drugs as they did when they were younger, they are going to run into serious problems.
Depression is another major issue. Older people with depression are going to be less likely to be able to stick to a rigid regimen of medications, making treating this illness all the more difficult.
Older people with mental health problems also tend to have physical health problems, the study went on to point out. This makes caring for the elderly with mental health issues a lot more difficult, especially because of the growing size of the elderly population.
This isn't so much an issue of there being a higher rate of mental health problems in the Baby Boomer generation, but they do come from a generation where these things were more likely to be professionally diagnosed. They also come from the biggest generation yet to reach their senior citizen years, creating a quite large dilemma for the healthcare industry in charge of caring for these problems. Geriatric care professionals are going to be at a severe shortage, if nothing changes in the current structure.
Unfortunately, the number of people trained for treating both the elderly and people with mental health or substance abuse problems is very limited. This will pose a big problem if nothing is done and could lead to a severe shortage of available healthcare. There are not that many candidates rushing in to fill these positions, either. This is very alarming and hospitals need to find a way to correct this problem or they may be running into a problem like has never been seen before.
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