Timely coverage of an oft-ignored subject, this time from PBS:
As recovering addicts age, many struggle to get care for long-term health issues
The reporter notes that we’re now faced with a whole generation of recovering folks who fall into the larger category of ‘Senior Citizens’ — people in their 60’s and older. As a result, our healthcare system is seeing an influx of patients who often suffer from a bewildering array of medical issues and complaints, some related to their personal history of addiction.
I bet one thing the patients agree on: If they hadn’t found their way into recovery, they’d never have made it this far.
I visited a program where, by coincidence, the Director — a former patient, now twenty years sober— found himself working alongside his onetime counselor. I couldn’t resist asking the counselor whether he would have predicted success for his former patient at the time.
“No,” he replied, emphatically. But thankfully, he was wrong.
We really can’t predict the longterm outcome for a patient in treatment. Of course, neither can the patients themselves. It’s why we encourage clinicians to give everybody the benefit of the doubt.
If someone is trying to get well, that should be good enough for the rest of us.
Anyway, the video above features excerpts from interviews with five senior citizens who also happen to be in recovery from different addictions. The list:
- A 58 year old male struggling with liver problems that he feels ceetainy are related to past drinking.
- A 72 year old man with Hepatitis C, likely stemming from his history of IV drug use.
- A 70 year old woman afflicted with cardiac and digestive problems, who also struggles with recurring headaches and nosebleeds.
- A 62 year-old female who is still experiencing the aftereffects, she believes, of chronic malnutrition sustained during years of active addiction.
- And finally, a 62 year old male now dealing with failing vision, hearing problems, and arthritis, to name just a few of his medical problems.
The video also includes an interview with the WSJ reporter who wrote the original piece. She emphasizes how often stigma is cited by older recovering persons as a barrier in their dealings with the healthcare system.
Having worked with a number of medical practitioners, I’m willing to bet one or more of the following thoughts occur to them when confronted with a patient who has a history of substance disorders:
- Is this patient going to follow my directions, or am I wasting my time?
- I hope this isn’t just about getting drugs from me.
- I don’t want to be known as the local “addiction doctor”. It’d scare off my other patients (the “good” ones).
This is all stigma-based thinking, of course, but quite common in healthcare. Like other barriers, it’s something that the recovering individual has to face and overcome. It’s certainly not a good reason to avoid the doctor’s office.
Things tend to get way worse when we do that, especially if we’re dealing with chronic conditions like the ones described in the video.
