Have you recently gone through a divorce? Are there children involved? Have you noticed some changes in your child's personality since the divorce? Children are not always good at expressing their feelings. If you don't do something to help your child, he or she could become emotionally imbalanced and have difficulties in school and at home. Visit our site to learn how to get your child into counseling to learn how to open up and share his or her feelings. Hopefully, you can help your child find comfort during a very difficult time in his or her life and learn to deal with emotions properly.
counseling a child going through a divorce
Prescription Drug Abuse And The Elderly: Can Seniors Enter Drug Rehab?
Carter Mccoy
While you may not suspect that the seniors you know are actively abusing recreational drugs, the odds that they may be addicted to prescription pain killers and other narcotics is higher. Doctors prescribe seniors more drugs to help them with health issues, but when those drugs are tranquilizers, sleeping aids or pain medication, they run the risk of being abused. In fact, almost 17 percent of U.S. adults over age 60 are addicted to some kind of prescription drug.
Signs that Your Senior Relative May be Addicted
If your senior relative is abusing prescriptions, he or she may hide or prevent you from knowing the types and amounts of pills they take in a day. If you can get access to his or her medicine cabinet, you may discover that the same drug has been prescribed by multiple doctors. But in many cases, you won't have access or won't see such an obvious sign.
So how do you determine if your senior parent, grandparent or other relative is struggling with an addiction to prescription medication? Here are some signs:
- Behavior changes. Many prescription drugs, especially when taken in more than the recommended doses, can cause seniors to become anxious or argumentative.
- Lack of joy in hobbies or activities. Narcotics can become all-consuming, causing your senior to focus less on enjoyable activities and more on how to get the next pill. They seem more withdrawn.
- Seeing multiple doctors. While seniors often need to see specialists for complex health issues, they shouldn't need to be continually switching or adding more.
- Discomfort in talking about the issue. Most people who use prescription drugs as prescribed are fine talking about their prescriptions and why they need them. If your senior shows signs of being agitated when asked basic questions, this could indicate a concern.
What to Do About Senior Addiction
If you have power of attorney or other legal status in your senior's life, you may be able to meet with his or her doctor to discuss prescriptions.
It can be helpful to talk to your senior relative and his or her doctor about other pain management techniques, such as exercise, acupuncture or even different medications that can provide more help.
But the most effective solution may be to encourage your senior relative to enter an official drug treatment program. There are treatment facilities that cater to seniors and can help them get off of prescription drugs. Some or all of the treatment may be covered by insurance or by Medicare.
For more information, contact Olalla Recovery Centers or a similar organization.
Share