The Baby Boomer Effects – Woodstock To Main Street
by Carol Colleran
In his latest book, Boom, Voices of the Sixties, Tom Brokaw focuses his famous reporting lens on the Sixties decade. Future business and political leaders came of age, and youth energetically began to carve out new rules and new civil rights. The Vietnam War was defining and divisive, rocking the nation and Baby Boomers in particular. Millions protested the war and the draft. A counter culture, and rebellion against societal mores and “the establishment” was reflected in “acid” music and psychedelic art. Woodstock featured great names in music but became a drug fest. LSD was drug blatantly promoted by Sixties guru, Timothy Leary, who convinced young followers to “turn on, tune in, drop out.”
Tom Brokaw interviewed Sixties top singer, Judy Collins, now in successful recovery from alcoholism and drug abuse. She recounted that there was a lot of chaos as well as lots of drug addicts and alcoholics in those days. Those who recovered and those who died. Judy herself finally got the treatment she needed in 1978, and has helped many others by telling her story of hope. Brokwaalso profiles a San Francisco doctor, Dr. David Smith, who started and ran the Free Clinic for Haight Ashbury youth who had nowhere to turn for needed medical care. Dr. David Smith took LSD himself.
What happened to Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendricks was a tragic commentary on the times. Others are in recovery, like singer Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplanes. Singer-guitarist James Taylor overcame his heroin habit but his marriage to Carly Simon didn’t survive. The drug culture was vividly described by Tom Wolff’s famous The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test as it follows the trail of Ken Kesey and his “Merry Band of Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead’s early “Acid Test” music.
At the same time, most kids who tried pot and grew their hair long later shed both. Baby Boomers went on to become the wealthiest generation ever. Energetic optimistic, individual, entrepreneurial, Boomers nevertheless experienced divorce at a rate off one out of two marriages. It was a youth culture. They felt they would naturally stay young, and remain healthier longer than the precious generation. Looking young has cost Baby Boomers a bundle in plastic surgery and cosmetics, yet what is the illusive definition of attractiveness as we age? To age seems somehow reversible to many in this generation.
We know the incidence of late onset and long-term addiction among those over age 50 is on the rise. Many Baby Boomers are self-medicating for chronic pain, slipping into addiction to pain pills, which they obtain from “doctor shopping” or the Internet. And many suffer late onset addiction to their earlier drugs of choice. Some never quit heavy drinking and/or drug use.
Baby Boomers understand the value of therapy and self-help. They want choice, and to be engaged in decisions. These factors can help Boomers in successful treatment for those who struggle with alcohol and chemical dependency. Being engaged in one’s treatment is key, and an individualized care plan begins with the assessment of the person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, Therapies within a the holistic program are based on the 12-Step philosophy, and may include Motivational Interviewing, and expressive, experiential therapies such as movement, art therapy, writing and music, as well as wellness, nutrition and spirituality. Menopausal and post-menopausal women find Hormonal shift assessment helpful as well. Both men and women renew connection to self and others.
Baby Boomers in recovery are like so many in their generation who are finding renewed purpose in life. They are asking, “What do I want my relationships to be, my work to be? What can I do to make a difference to others and society? What does vitality mean to me?” Exploring healthy aging, even if we use the dreaded word “aging,” really is a step towards vitality for those who are on a recovery journey or who want to make meaningful choices in the “second half of life.”
Hanley Center’s Center for Older Adult Recovery, http://www.hanleycenter.org addresses the Young Older Adult in a new model of treatment for the disease of addiction, because older Baby Boomers have different profiles in values, world view and patterns of drug and alcohol use than those mid-sixties and up. The incidence of dual diagnosis is also more prevalent in Young Older Adults, such as anxiety and depression. Traditional older adults who suffer from addictions are primarily dependent on alcohol or medications, and view illegal drug use as immoral.
Carol Colleran is a pioneer in older adult addition, co-author of “Aging and Addiction” and executive vice president national policy and public affairs, Hanley Center, 933 45th Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33407. Hanley Center, http://www.hanleycenter.org was established in 1986 and offers innovative gender-specific and older adult treatment, as well as education and prevention services for alcoholism and substance abuse. Call 1-800-444-7008.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
it is most interesting to me…Older adults think alcohol is okay but not drugs…I guess because they feel alcohol is socially acceptable. However it still has some pretty bad side effects. Hopefully they are doing their drinking at home. Carol Stanley author of For Kids 59.99 and Over.
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Carol,
I am an addictions therapist and work exclusively with older adults. Among these folks there is a huge stigma on drug addiction, they have ideas of opiate addicts in the street etc.
The idea that they have becone addicted to these same opiates and benzos simply by using Dr prescibed meds is puzzling. In this population addiction to any substance is very, very frquently overlooked or misdiagnosed by doctors.
Bill
This is an interesting article Bill. I agree that there are meds prescribed by doctors which are also addictive. Person taking these cannot stop using them and becomes addicted! They are not much different from addictive drugs…only thing is that these meds are not by choice but to recover from some illness.
I liked you thought of being engaged in one’s treatment … an individualized care helps in recovery of the affected faster!
- Jay
Great article. It’s kind of funny how the flower children of the sixties evolved to be the wealthiest generation of all time. The points you make about addiction are spot on. I can sympathize because it doesn’t take much to get hooked on pain or sleeping pills.
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