Howard Pressman Featured on WUSA9, The Dark Side of Retirement

Howard Pressman Featured on WUSA9, "The Dark Side of Retirement"

June 18, 2014, WUSA9 — Howard Pressman was featured talking about The Dark Side of Retirement hosted by WUSA9 reporter Debra Alfarone.

Dark Side of Retirement “To hear the financial services industry tell it, retirement looks like a distinguished gray-haired man and an attractive silver-haired woman walking hand in hand down a magnificent beach, enjoying the sunset while gazing lovingly and contentedly into each other’s eyes,” Pressman told Ms. Alfarone. “They don’t have a care in the world, and why should they? They are retired.”

But there is a dark side of retirement that no one talks about, he insists, pointing to statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that show:

The proportion of older people treated for a combination of cocaine and alcohol abuse tripled between 1992 and 2008.
Cocaine abuse among the elderly was the leading cause of hospital admissions involving drugs, even outpacing admissions for prescription drug abuse.

And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Among Americans of all ages, 12.4 per 100,000 will take their own life each year.
Among people over age 65, that number jumps to 14.9—and some experts believe the instances are under-reported.
As startling as those numbers are, white men over age 65 take their own lives at a rate of 29 per 100,000—almost triple the overall rate.

What can you do about it Pressman suggests asking yourself, or your loved one who has retired, the following:

What are you interested in that you would one day like to explore further?
What three to six people can you turn to for emotional, physical, and spiritual support?
What will a perfect day in retirement look like? What about a perfect week?
In what ways will you stay active and fit in retirement?