⏱ 4 minutes to read • July 24, 2026
Can a 75-year-old be addicted?
Most people would probably answer no, not because science says so, but because the images we create of addiction are associated with adolescence, risk-taking, and anxious behavior. When addiction appears later in life, it is often dismissed as a long-term habit or as an inevitable consequence of aging rather than being recognized as a complex mental illness. But the real problem is not that addiction exists among the elderly. It is that we continue to understand it through the same mirrors we use for young people.
The reason is due to aging more than time. It is a stage of life marked by profound changes in the brain and cognitive function. As a result, the factors that contribute to addiction in the elderly and how the disease progresses can be very different from the factors observed in the young. These age-related changes remind us that addiction in later life is not just a delay of youth addiction. It is a different experience that takes shape through the realities of personal mental and emotional awareness.
From a psychological point of view, cognitive addiction cannot be reduced to the substances a person consumes or the behaviors they engage in. It is also shaped by the way the brain processes information, evaluates rewards, and makes decisions. As people get older, natural changes occur in executive functions such as management, cognitive flexibility, planning, and the ability to anticipate long-term consequences. These changes can also be associated with chronic illness, decreased mental health, or long-term use of certain medications. Reducing addiction in the elderly to problems of weak will or deeply stuck habits is inconsistent with our understanding of the aging brain. In contrast, addiction in later life should be considered as a result of complex interactions between neurological changes, cognitive function, and psychological and social challenges that often accompany aging.
Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we make is treating addiction to the elderly as something that starts slowly in life when, in fact, it may be the last chapter of a longer story. Addiction does not always occur due to aging. More often than not, it reflects the subsequent effects of years of loss, adaptation, stress, and unresolved emotional burdens that have quietly accumulated over time. If we really want to understand addiction in the afterlife, we should not just ask, “When did it start?” We should also ask, “What leads to this moment throughout a person’s life?
Aging growth changes more than the brain; It also changes the situation in which people live. Retirement, loss of spouse, chronic illness, shrinking of social media and changing life roles all change daily life. Addiction in the afterlife is incomprehensible regardless of this new reality. In fact, what may seem like an addictive behavior can be an attempt to adapt to a life marked by profound changes, increased loneliness, or feelings of loss of control.
In my opinion, addiction in the elderly can not be understood by focusing only on one’s own behavior. What we see is just a visible result; The role of addiction coming into play in people’s lives often remains a mystery. In the afterlife, addiction may be less about finding pleasure than adapting to reality
Make basic changes to deal with persistent emotional pain or try to regain control of your emotions. Thus, the understanding of addiction does not begin with behavioral judgment, but with an understanding of the purpose for which it comes into service in human life.
By YASMINE EL YAHYAOUI Aging psychiatrist
