Drug and alcohol misuse on rise among baby boomers
Misuse of drink and drugs by baby boomers is increasing and needs urgent attention, according to Australian and UK medics. Recently released NHS figures reveal that over half a million people aged 55 to 74 were admitted to hospitals in England with diseases or injuries related to alcohol in 2015-2016. The figures were higher than for any other age group, making baby boomers the only generation trending upwards in terms of dangerous drinking. The number of people over 50 treated for substance misuse is expected to double in Europe and treble in the US by 2020.

Urgent action is needed to tackle drink and drug misuse among baby boomers, experts have warned, with a growing body of data from around the world suggesting that substance misuse is increasing among those in their mid-50s and older.

The call follows the release of recent figures which revealed that in 2015/16 more than half a million adults aged between 55 and 74 were admitted to English hospitals with alcohol-related injuries, diseases or conditions – more than for any other age group.



What’s more, while risky drinking is on the wane in the UK and Australia, those in the over-50 age bracket buck the trend. By 2020 the number of people receiving treatment for substance misuse problems are expected to double in Europe, and treble in the US, among those aged over 50.

“Overall, whether you look at [hospital] admissions, whether you look at daily drinking, whether you look at deaths, older people – particularly baby boomers – are pulling away significantly in their health risks from millennials,” said Dr Tony Rao, a consultant old age psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and co-chair of the Older People’s Substance Misuse working group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Writing in the British Medical Journal ahead of the publication of a forthcoming 2018 report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Rao and Ann Roche – director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University in Australia – argue that more needs to be done to tackle the problem.

But, Rao warns, the issue goes beyond drinking. “It is not just about alcohol, it is also about illicit drugs such as cannabis, and it is also about commonly prescribed medications such as opioid painkillers,” he said. “It is not just a problem in the UK, it is an international problem.”

Indeed, the authors write, “In Australia, the largest percentage increase in drug misuse between 2013 and 2016 was among people aged 60 and over, with this age group mainly misusing prescription drugs.” Those over the age of 50, they add, have higher rates of illicit drug misuse, particularly cannabis, than younger Australians.



Among their suggestions to tackle the problem, the authors argue that programmes should be developed to cater especially for older adults. “Addiction services [in the UK] are being dismantled piecemeal at the same time as older people are experiencing more substance misuse problems,” said Rao.

Better integration of healthcare is crucial, Rao added, pointing out that those visiting services relating to liver disease or dementia, for example, could also be screened for issues relating to alcohol or drugs and be offered help if needed.

Rao added that a 2011 report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which he co-authored, advises that due to age-related physiological and metabolic changes, older people should drink no more than 11 units per week; current guidelines recommend no more than 14 units for all adults.

Katherine Brown, director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies said alcohol consumption among baby boomers is a huge worry.

“This is the first generation of home-drinkers who are far more likely to buy cheap supermarket alcohol than visit their local pub. They are drinking more than their parents and it’s no surprise that their health is starting to suffer as a result,” she said, adding that price increases and tighter controls on alcohol promotions are needed.



Karen Tyrell, from the alcohol and drug misuse charity Addaction, agreed that better integrated services, as well as those specifically aimed at older adults, are needed to help tackle the issue, pointing out that work from the Drink Wise Age Well project has shown that older adults have different needs to younger people. “[Older adults’] drinking and drug use tends to be around age-related issues, so things like retirement, bereavement [and] being quite lonely,” she said.

Ultimately, said Tyrell, the situation among baby boomers is a serious concern. “It tends to be that society imagines that drink and drugs are problems of the young but actually there are massive problems in older populations,” she said.