e that recent evidence has shown that an alarming number of elderly people are becoming dependent on alcohol. This problem of alcoholism in older populations has dire consequences.
For example, Schuckit (1982) reports that alcohol intake can precipitate mental problems, especially confusion, even in nonalcoholic older individuals whose drinking behavior is not at all often. Further, Schuckit states that alcoholism is seen in 15 percent or more of older patients presenting to psychiatrists with psychopathology ranging from depression to acute psychotic states.
Another consequence of alcoholism in the elderly is that it can exacerbate existing mental conditions. This was seen in a study by Krystal, Leaf, Bruce and Charney (1992) who evaluated the effects of aging and alcoholism histories on a sample of older people who suffered from panic disorder. Data were collected from 18,018 household respondents as part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study.
Reanalysis of ECA data provided support for a decline in the prevalence of panic disorder among elderly people. However, among those older people with panic disorder who had a history of alcohol abuse or dependence, panic disorder attacks were significantly elevated, even above those of younger people.
Alcoholism also depresses the elderly person's psychosocial functioning. For example, Rivers, Rivers and Newman (1991) examined psychosocial functioning in structured interviews of 117 alcoholic and nonalcoholic men and women aged 55+ years. All subjects were also given the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), the Heimler Scale of Social Functioning (HSSF), and several scales from the Scheidt-Windley (S-W) scale which measures degree of social activity in the life of elderly people. Alcoholics were found to have significantly lower psychosocial functioning that nonalcoholics, leading Rivers and associates to conclude that elderly alcoholics tended to be more ...