Successful Career → Retirement → Rehab

A Common Scenario

College years

There is a common scenario for late-blooming female alcoholics of a certain age. There is a typical story of this style of the up and coming drinker. When they were girls, they may have done some light or heavy drinking, perhaps even some “soft” drugs in college.

Early adulthood

Pregnancy and child rearing, planned or otherwise, became the impetus for many women to stop using alcohol or any other drugs.  Maybe her husband clearly drank too much, and she chose to stay sober to minimize any alcoholic damage for the family. Or, based on her college drinking escapades, it may have become clear that using alcohol could compromise her career opportunities.

Retirement

However, two or three decades later, the landscape of her life has dramatically changed. Parenting responsibilities are over. Perhaps there was a divorce, or maybe that husband died, possibly a drinking related death. The sustaining career ends as age 60 or 65 years arrives.

Social drinking

After the retirement party, divorce or widowhood, there becomes a large and gaping emptiness in the daily routine. It is excepted, even fashionable, to start drinking alone – a seemingly innocent glass of wine with dinner. Mature woman holding lovely crystal wine glass filled with a modestly expensive wine while alone, is completely normalized in movies and series.

Problem drinking

And so begins the rapid downfall. When a woman starts drinking alcoholically at this age, the physical and mental deterioration is fast.

Older women may be especially at risk for alcohol problems because they are more likely than men to outlive their spouses and face other losses that may lead to loneliness and depression. Physiologically, women are also at greater risk for alcohol–related health problems as they age. 

What started as normal and sociable, progresses. Bruises and cuts from falls, slurring drunken phone calls or bewildering texts, confusion, bloating and self-loathing become obvious to family and friends.

Where Does this Mature Woman Seek Help?

Where does this woman go for help? The local government rehab can be a scary place. The Rehab Riviera of Malibu equally scary – and prohibitively expensive, up to $100,000 for 30 days.

An alternative is proving to be an almost perfect fit for woman over the age of 55. A place where a woman feels safe, treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Serenity Vista in Panama offers such a safe haven for mature women seeking treatment for alcoholism.

Serenity Vista’s holistic program of body, mind and spirit appeals to women of any age looking for peace of mind and peace of heart. Gentle yoga and moderate exercise, spiritual nurturing, good food, family style dynamics, a loving chocolate Labrador retriever dog in one of the most beautiful settings in the world, Boquete, Panama. Along with back to basic recovery principles, deep therapy addresses the hurt and painful places everyone has inside. Creative sessions of art, music, mindfulness round out the program.

If you or someone you love is facing the issue of finding age and gender appropriate alcohol treatment, contact Jane or John at Serenity Vista in Panama. In the United States the average life-expectancy for women is 80 years, slightly higher in Canada at 83.  There is opportunity for an amazing next couple of decades for the mature woman who recovers from alcoholism.