A study cited by the New York Times showed that alcohol use and drug abuse increased rapidly in the first year of the pandemic.
The number of alcoholrelated deaths, including those from liver disease and accidents, rose from 78,927 in 2019 to 99,017 in 2020, a 25 percent increase.
On the other hand, drug overdose deaths also peaked during this period.
More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the 12 months ended April 2021, a nearly 30 percent increase from the previous year.
At the same time, the number of opioidrelated deaths involving alcohol increased.
Young adults aged 25 to 44 experienced the largest increase in alcoholrelated deaths in 2020, up nearly 40 percent from the previous calendar.
The research, coming amid growing awareness that the toll of Covid19 goes beyond the death toll directly caused by the disease, underscored that, in turn, there were more deaths from untreated pathologies.
The specialists also warned of the social impact associated with educational setbacks and the loss of parents and caregivers.
Aaron White, first author of the report, warned that after the Covid19 outbreak, “there was a large increase in selfreported stress and a large increase in anxiety and depression, and a global uncertainty about what was going to happen”.
But the crisis has been brewing for years as alcohol consumption among adults shows an upward trend, said Katherine Keyes, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University who was not involved with the study.
Mental health problems were also becoming more prevalent before the pandemic, making people more vulnerable to substance abuse.
“As with many episodes of a pandemic, this is an aggravation of problems that started earlier for many people,” Keyes added.
Some of the motivations for drinking changed: drinking from stress increased and drinking from boredom increased, the specialist pointed out.
Adults in their 20s and 40s with children at home experienced higher stress as they juggled work and distance learning; Those without children, who generally drink more anyway, might struggle with more isolation and loneliness, he concluded.
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