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Alcohol and the over 65s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Rafael Euba
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The Psychiatrist , Volume 35 , Issue 9 , September 2011 , pp. 354 - 355
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011

The recent report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Older Persons’ Substance Misuse Working Group 1,2 advises the lowering of the recommended limit of alcohol consumption for people over 65. The editor of Saga magazine, Emma Soames, reacted to this recommendation by saying that: ‘I think people will be infuriated by this. It’s described as a public health problem, it’s actually a private health matter’. Reference Hughes3 People over 65 are, overall, very much aware that they need to do things in moderation, which is in fact a good universal advice for the young as well as the old. They do not welcome new additions to their ever-expanding list of lifestyle limitations, or being labelled as excessive drinkers by their general practitioner if they choose to drink a pint of beer at night. A holistic approach might well conclude that in many instances an elderly person will be happier and even healthier (in the holistic sense) with a pint, or perhaps even two, than without them.

References

1 Royal College of Psychiatrists. Psychiatrists call for action to tackle substance misuse in older people (press release). Royal College of Psychiatrists 2011 (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/press/pressreleases2011/ourinvisibleaddicts.aspx).Google Scholar
2 Older Persons' Substance Misuse Working Group. Our Invisible Addicts (College Report CR165). Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011 (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/files/pdfversion/CR165.pdf).Google Scholar
3 Hughes, D. People over 65 should drink less, a report says. BBC News Health 2011; 22 June (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13863196).Google Scholar
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