Mid-Life Addiction

Mid-Life Addiction

We hear stories about young adults who get caught up in addiction as a result of partying to hard and too often in college. We hear stories about people older than the age of 60 who have to deal with drug addiction after being prescribed prescription pain medication to help them cope with chronic pain. What about the middle aged man or women who seem to have their life together? There are working class professionals all over the country with good jobs, 401k plans, family and the house with the nice picket fence that wake up every morning struggling with addiction. It is difficult for individuals who seemingly have their life’s together to admit that they need help with addiction. One of those most difficult things a middle aged person has to do when it comes to addiction is accepting their addiction and admitting that they need help. Addiction makes the suffering believe that they have everything under control. It makes the struggling truly think that they can stop their alcohol abuse or drug abuse whenever they want. Addiction is a disease of denial. As an addiction progresses so do the feelings of denial. It doesn’t take too long before the addict is taking measures to hide their addiction. Frequent trips to the bathroom, drinking alone, hiding bottles around the home are common actions for the addict. They are all done so no one becomes aware of what is really going on. The saying in recovery is “denial is not just a river”. Admitting that a problem exists with alcohol or drugs is the necessary first step to recovery. Denial of addiction can literally kill someone. Addiction treatment can be source for the light at the end of the tunnel. With professional help it is never too late to turn around the misfortune that addiction will cause.