Seniors who are living with addiction might find it hard to become sober because they might have been struggling with it for a long time. It may even be harder for them to break free from addiction because of how their body behaves when they get older.

When seniors are suffering from addiction, the first step is usually to get them to undergo detoxification. The essence of detoxification is to remove toxic substances in the body that might be harmful.  

These substances are sometimes the buildup of substances like drugs and alcohol that have accumulated over the years.

In the case where the senior is not addicted to substances, they would not have to undergo detoxification.

When a senior stops using drugs and alcohol, they may experience withdrawal symptoms which might be unpleasant for their health.

With detoxification, the effects of these symptoms may reduce, which would make the seniors fit and strong to receive addiction treatment.

Seniors will also have to attend counseling sessions which is an integral part of addiction treatment.

Counseling helps to create a therapeutic alliance between the patient and the counselor. This makes it easy for the patient to trust the counselor so that they can aid them to achieve sobriety in the long run.

Importantly, counseling is also important in identifying underlying health problems that may not be physically visible. The senior also needs the counselor’s motivation all through addiction treatment help so that they can pull through.

Also, seniors may have to undergo inpatient treatment or outpatient treatment depending on the severity of their addiction. Irrespective of the treatment type or facility that seniors opt for, what matters is their comfort.

Inpatient treatment or rehab is for older adults with more severe addiction cases. Such people might need close monitoring from time to time.

Seniors who go for outpatient treatment may not need to remain within the treatment facility, as they can come from home to get treated and return.

As our bodies get older, it might be difficult for us to manage the way we handle stress. This is one of the problems that seniors face when they go through stressful situations.

When older adults are stressed, they are likely to experience health problems like Depression, Anxiety, Diabetes, Headaches, Asthma, etc.

Even though it might look impossible to eliminate all the stressors in the body, here are some tips to bring down stress levels in seniors

Keep social relationships

One of the ways that seniors can keep their stress levels down is to maintain social relationships. Keeping close relationships come in handy when you’re going through difficult situations and you need someone to lean on.

Having a good relationship with family and friends is one of the profound ways to ease stress feelings.

Engage in physical exercise

Another tip to reduce stress in seniors is to stay active. Older adults can benefit from exercise because it comes with mental and physical exercise.

A good rule of thumb is to engage in 30 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week. Some of the physical activities that seniors enjoy doing are cycling, walking, gardening, yoga, etc.

Reduce work commitments

For seniors who are still working to earn a living, they need to reduce the volume of work-related activities that they handle to reduce their stress levels. They can consider delegating some of their duties so that they can have more personal time for self-care.

Take nutritious meals

Seniors should also be more intentional about what they eat. It would be best to reduce or stop the amount of fast food that they take. Rather it would be best to follow a good dietary plan from a nutritionist to know the right foods to take, and the ones to avoid.

Another habit that seniors need to incorporate is going for regular checkups from their healthcare provider. This is important to spot any underlying health issues that might become complicated if left untreated.