The Coming Tsunami of Mental Health Care for ‘Boomers

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A report released yesterday by the Institute of Medicine, at the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says “at least 5.6 million to 8 million – nearly one in five – older adults in America have one or more mental health and substance use conditions, which present unique challenges for their care. With the number of adults age 65 and older projected to soar from 40.3 million in 2010 to 72.1 million by 2030, the aging of America holds profound consequences for the nation.”

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Related Item:
Aging Boomers’ Mental Health Woes Will Swamp Health System: Report (U.S. News)
Report: Too Little Mental Health Care For Boomers (Huffington Post)

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Kermit Cole
Kermit Cole, MFT, founding editor of Mad in America, works in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a couples and family therapist. Inspired by Open Dialogue, he works as part of a team and consults with couples and families that have members identified as patients. His work in residential treatment — largely with severely traumatized and/or "psychotic" clients — led to an appreciation of the power and beauty of systemic philosophy and practice, as the alternative to the prevailing focus on individual pathology. A former film-maker, he has undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology from Harvard University, as well as an MFT degree from the Council for Relationships in Philadelphia. He is a doctoral candidate with the Taos Institute and the Free University of Brussels. You can reach him at [email protected].

2 COMMENTS

  1. ” …which present unique challenges for their care.”

    Define care.

    ” …the aging of America holds profound consequences for the nation.””

    Forecasting and predicting some gloom and doom? How typical and normal of human beings. I say it is unnecessary scaremongering and a CAUSE of mental and emotional anguish and turmoil.

    Related Item: Report: Too Little Mental Health Care For Boomers (Huffington Post)

    That sounds like a money problem.

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  2. Oh yeah, aging is going to be a bonanza for psychiatric pharma. They’re ginning up the Alzheimer’s drug research right now.

    Maybe psychiatric medication will serve a social Darwinist purpose, a way for society to shorten the lives of those darn baby boomers, relieving some of the burden of expense to provide medical care for them.

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