Alcohol Consumption Worsens Retirees Mental Health, Study

DLHA Staff Writer

An elderly African man

Thursday Jan. 16, 2025 -  OK, so you’re retired and looking forward to taking life easy, enjoying the fruits of several years of labour.

But did you know that consuming alcohol for purposes of copig with retireent can worsen your mental health?

According to a recent US study published January 10, 2025, alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk and worsens the symptoms of depression in retirees compared to non-retirees.  

Given these observations, Christina Sellers, one of the study researchers and an Associate professor of social work at Simmons University in Boston in a news release, said  “Providing alternative coping mechanisms to heavy alcohol consumption for retirees is crucial.”

She further added that “addressing the combination of depressive symptoms and alcohol use among older adults is crucial too, especially considering their increased vulnerability to the negative effects of alcohol and underlying health conditions.” 

About the Study

More than 27,500 U.S. residents 50 years and older, took part in a long-time survey of health and retirement, in which they’re questioned about their lives every two years over an average of 14 years.

Participants self-reported their drinking habits, and answered questions related to their symptoms of depression. Researchers then analyzed data from the questionnaires.

What the Study Found

Researchers found the following:

• Retirees suffer more depressive symptoms than people who are still on the job. 

• Retirees reporting having five or more drinks (for men) and four or more drinks (for women) on a single day tended to have more symptoms of depression than non-drinkers. 

• Retirees who drank in moderation (one to 4 drinks – for men and 1 to 3 drinks - for women, in a single day, had fewer symptoms of depression.

Researchers emphasised that ordinarily, retirement comes with many challenges to the mental health of retirees that include:

• Loss of the identity that comes with work

• Financial problems 

• Changes to the routine of daily activities, and 

• Less social connectedness

In light of these considerations and given the fact that elderly people who form the majority of retirees tend to process alcohol less well than younger people, and might be taking medications that interact with drinking, researchers recommend against having a regular drink or two to adjust to retirement.

“Drinking alcohol increases the risk of falls and other injuries in the elderly and can lead to dependency – and the poor health that typically comes with it,” lead researcher Antonia Díaz-Valdés, an assistant professor with Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile, said in a news release.

Why the Study is Significant for Africans

There is a general impression that many Africans generally have low awareness of alcohol's harmful effect on health, often consuming it freely and heavily within cultural contexts of socialisation and merriment.

The study serves as a warning to Africans, especially the elderly who are also retired from active work life, that alcohol consumption is bad for health and more specifically it damages both mental and physical health.

Wrap Up

Elderly retirees who drink alcohol are at higher risk of depression and other physical health harms than their colleagues who do not drink. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), no amount of alcohol is beneficial to health. About half of alcohol-related cancers are caused by light or moderate drinking.

Adjusting to retirement can be challenging for some older adults, but turning to alcohol to cope is not the answer.

It is crucial to provide elderly retirees with healthier alternatives to alcohol consumption. It is also important that healthcare providers assess the amount of alcohol consumed by older adults in retirement and screen them for evidence of depression during all health check encounters.

Source: Diaz-Valdes A, Sellers CM, Medina JT, Ponce J, Calvo E, Gavis-Hughson S. Testing the mediating mechanism of alcohol use on the association between retirement and depressive symptoms in the United States using generalized mixed effect models. Aging & Mental Health, 2025, 1–9. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2423262. Available from here.

Related:

• What is depression?

• Symptoms of major depression

• Who is at risk for major depression?

• Depression among African women

• Why mental health matters

Published: January 16, 2025

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