Medications & Alcohol Consumption by Seniors

This research investigates problems associated with alcohol consumption by senior citizens following regimes of prescribed medications. Risks for senior citizens associated with the dual consumption of alcohol and overthecounter medications, the dual consumption of overthecounter medications and prescription drugs, as well as the concurrent consumption of prescription drugs, overthecounter medications, and alcohol are also addressed.

Medication use by the elderly is greater that such use by other age groups in the population (Falvo, Holland, Brenner, and Benshoff, 1990, pp. 1016). Serious problems have been identified in relation to the overuse, underuse, and inappropriate use of prescription and nonprescription (overthecounter) drugs (Kahl, Blandford, Krueger, and Zwick, 1992, pp. 3747). The concurrent use of alcohol by these elderly subjects further aggravated the problems experienced.

Behavioral Characteristics and Outcomes

A study of the behavior of elderly persons found that while 43 percent of such individuals abstain from alcohol, the majority of the elderly does consume alcoholic beverages (Forster, Pollow, and Stoller, 1993, pp. 225239). A high proportion of the elderly persons who consume alcohol are at potential clinical risk because of their concurrent use of prescription and overthecounter medications. Approximately one

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aved as a replacement for the carbohydrates. Freud believed that substance addiction was the result of strong oral influences in early childhood, and Menninger advanced the selfdestructive drive as the prime component in the development of substance abuse (Kaplan and Sadock, 1993, p. 1223). Knight saw the cause of chemical substance abuse as the result of the combined effects of an inconsistent father and an overindulgent and over protective mother in childhood and youth, while Adler attributed alcoholism to powerful feelings of inferiority, coupled with a perpetual state of insecurity and a desire to escape responsibility. The desire to escape responsibility is also an integral component of theories holding that psychological locus of control is closely related to the development of chemical substance abuse. Individuals with an external locus of control are more prone to chemical substance abuse than are individuals with an internal locus of control. There are a variety of underlying causes of chemical substance abuse. In many, and perhaps most, instances, it is likely that some combination of two or more of the underlying causes is involved. Substance abuse, however, cannot in most instances be equated with substance u
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Kaplan Sadock, Bader Meinzer, Fineman DeFelicia, Anthony Liberman, EberleinVries Sturgeon, Pollow Stoller, Forster Duniho, Lyons Murphy, Elderly Substance, Frances Jaffe, substance abuse, chemical substance, elderly persons, chemical substance abuse, overthecounter medications, psychosocial rehabilitation, prescription drugs, family intervention, relapse prevention, pollow stoller, 1991 pp, pollow stoller 1993, family intervention programs, hospital community psychiatry, forster pollow stoller,
Approximate Word count = 2277
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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