By Aaron Miller-
More under-65s died as a result of drinking too much alcohol in 2020 than from Covid-19, according to a new study has revealed.
Research conducted by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) showed that US deaths from alcohol-related issues spiked by a massive 25.5% in 2020 compared with the previous year, renewing concerns over the impact of pandemic lockdowns on those struggling with addiction.
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The NIAAA found that 99,0000 Americans died from alcohol-related causes in 2020.
The study revealed that 74,408 under 65s died from alcohol related causes during the first year of the pandemic , leading to 333 more related deaths than of Covid-19. This is despite the fact America was reportedly the most affected country in the world.
Prolonged national lockdowns over the past two years increased substance abuse issues among many groups of people in America. Research shows that Americans reported significantly more drinking to cope with the pressures of lockdown, and this fact contributed to a lot more deaths than usual, kicking Covid deaths to the shade. Alcohol consumption has for many decades been the cause of so many deaths in America, those deaths multiplying several folds as a result of the pandemic.
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The higher deaths in America caused by alcohol during the pandemic has been seen to be representative of the view held by many of the cure being worse than the disease, in terms of the extent of lockdowns in America and across the world during the pandemic compared to the seriousness of the disease.
Covid-19 cost many lives in America, leading to wide spread sorrow in many families. Many Americans believed the lockdown to be necessary to contain the spread of Covid but opposing groups were also in abundance. Putting to one side the different views Americans had about the necessity of the lockdown, the more detrimental effect of substance abuse and suicide in many parts of the U.S was a more damaging consequence of the pandemic than Covid-19 itself.
Speaking to the New York Times, study author Aaron White described stress as the ‘primary factor’ in relapsing, and also pointed to the impact of the reduced availability of services like rehab and AA for people dealing with substance abuse issues.
“There is no question there was a big increase in self-reported stress, and big increases in anxiety and depression, and planet-wide uncertainty about what was coming next,” he said. “That’s a lot of pressure on people who are trying to maintain recovery.”
The study was published Friday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Using information from death certificates, the researchers included all deaths in which alcohol was listed as an underlying or contributing cause. Only a very small number also involved covid-19.
“The assumption is that there were lots of people who were in recovery and had reduced access to support that spring and relapsed,” Aaron White, the report’s first author and a senior scientific adviser at the alcohol abuse institute, said.
“Stress is the primary factor in relapse,” he said. “There is no question there was a big increase in self-reported stress, and big increases in anxiety and depression, and planetwide uncertainty about what was coming next. … That’s a lot of pressure on people who are trying to maintain recovery.”
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