The Takeaway: 1 in 5 Older Adults Have Mental Health or Substance Abuse Issues

There's much made of the fact that an aging boomer population could seriously strain America's health care resources. A new report finds the strain extends beyond just physical care, with 20 percent of older adults suffering from mental health or substance abuse problems and a serious shortage of doctors, nurses and other health workers trained in mental health care.

Identifying and treating mental health issues in older adults can be difficult; physical health problems mask or distract from mental health needs, medications complicate treatment, isolation may exasperate conditions or make it difficult for others to notice problems. There are currently an estimated 5.6 to 8 million Americans age 65 or older with a mental health condition or substance abuse disorder. Unsurprisingly, depression and dementia-related psychiatric issues led the pack. The most common time for the onset of depression is middle age.

Based on population alone--the number of Americans 65 or older is set to double by 2030--we can expect to see a lot more seniors in need of addiction treatment or mental health care in the coming few decades. Considering rates of illegal drug use are higher in today's 50-somethings than in previous generations, the number could swell even higher, report co-author Peter Rabins said.

Quick Hits: 

• Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad reunion. Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney and Jonathan Winters--ages 90, 91 and 86, respectively--came together Monday at a film festival celebrating the super-wide 70mm format that was trendy in the 1960s (and used in Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 1963 film in which all three starred).

• In American lit, growing focus on "the self." An analysis of words and phrases in more than 750,000 American books published between 1960 and 2008 found growing emphasis on the individual over the group, with special emphasis on "uniqueness" and self-esteem.

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