What You Need to Know About Addiction Rates and Covid-19

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It can be a strain to keep up with national news at times. There is a tendency from the news industry to focus on the negative and look at positive stories as puff pieces for local stations. The other reality is that talking about how normal a day was isn’t news. Major events that people need to know about are often difficult and unhappy to cover. That has certainly been the case for the national news during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made countless people sick, forced changes to daily life, and killed hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. All of this impact has had a profound impact on the country and its people, including how addiction is managed.

Isolation Can Lead to Relapse

One of the worst parts about the COVID-19 pandemic has been how it isolates people. This can lead to a lot of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. For someone who has also dealt with addiction issues during their life, this isolation and lack of social support structure can lead to relapses. That’s why it’s incredibly important to do things to return to normal as a society at large. This includes getting vaccinated. In early March 2021, approximately 15.3% of the American population was vaccinated, with the expectation being that life could more or less return to normal at a 70% vaccination rate.

It’s Important to Keep a Support System During the Pandemic

Because of the nature of addiction, it can be almost impossible to recover alone or without a support system in place. In fact, for addicts in the early stages of recovery, they’re more susceptible to relapses. This means it’s key to have their support system in place, but how do you do that during a pandemic? It should start with making sure you have access to your family and friends. Even if this needs to be through a video chat for health and safety purposes, it will help. There are also groups that meet in a socially distanced setting or through the internet to help others get through these difficult times.

Overdose Rates Increased During the Pandemic

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who will live through this pandemic, but with different scars that are caused by it, including mental health issues. The number of those who have died from COVID-19 doesn’t include all of those whose death wouldn’t have happened if not for the pandemic, even if the virus didn’t directly kill them. This is the case as the rate of overdoses increased around the country. This increase is by as much as 17.59% and is likely due to the isolation created by the pandemic in large part.

The Pandemic Has Increased Substance Abuse

According to the CDC, in June 2020 13% of Americans reported that they had started using substances or increased their usage of substances. This, in and of itself, is a public health crisis, which can be directly correlated to the pandemic. It has also occurred as IQVIA has estimated that the Chinese biotech industry could reach $1.75 billion by 2022. So, how can people fight addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic? It starts with working on their mental health consistently and making sure that they’re not in a position where they are liable to slip into addiction.

There has been almost nothing positive that has come out of the pandemic. This has included major mental health issues that have led to many other health issues, like addiction. That is why it has become so important to invest in one’s own mental health and to find a strong support system during this time.