Numerous warnings regarding the potential risks of increased alcohol consumption and of the development of alcohol dependence have been raised, both in the press and in scientific journals (WHO, The Lancet, Alcohol and Alcoholism Journal).
Share your opinion please.
Hi
I know that Small amounts of inhaled alcohol may make a person much more drunk than drinking the alcohol instead.
Alcohol abuse remains a problem whether or not in 'corona-time'
Depression due to corona related problems (no job, bankrupt busisness, etc) may increase alcohol abuse.
I would agree with Jos that Alcohol Misuse is already a public health issue but that Coronavirus is adding a layer of complexity of our work with people with ongoing issues.
At our service we are now restricted in terms of the treatment interventions we can offer as detoxification regimes are not a straightforward option currently and as much as possible we are only doing telephone contact. For a service user population that is often very isolated already this adds additional difficulty. Alongside this many of the people I work with are not tech savvy and/or do not have access to the internet meaning other forms of communication with others are limited to them.
Having said that it appears that some have taken the crisis as a trigger for behavior change, perhaps in part due to the fact that there is now limited external support available meaning they have recognised / defaulted to drawing on their own motivations to illicit this change.
Although I have heard anecdotal evidence that alcohol consumption among the whole population in the UK is increasing I feel this doesn't necessarily map with increased incidence of alcohol dependence. It may mean people who already have such issues are drinking more and in crisis and it may mean that people that don''t have dependence issues are drinking more but I feel this is situational and will most likely resolve without need for any healthcare interventions in most cases.
Andrzej Silczuk Can you link to the scientific journals and press articles you mention please? I would be interested to see them.
Clay JM, Parker MO. Alcohol use and misuse during the COVID-19 pandemic: a potential public health crisis? [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 8]. Lancet Public Health. 2020; S2468-2667(20)30088-8. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30088-8
Testino G, Pellicano R. Alcohol consumption in the Covid-19 Era [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 27]. Minerva Gastroenterologica e Dietologica. 2020; doi:10.23736/S1121-421X.20.02698-7
Shalbafan M, Khademoreza N. What we can learn from COVID-19 outbreak in Iran about the importance of alcohol use education [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 20]. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 2020; 1–2. doi:10.1080/00952990.2020.1753759
Gierblińska K. Silczuk A. Alcoholism in the quarantine [Alkoholizm w kwarantannie]. Published on 15 Apr 2020. https://www.medexpress.pl/alkoholizm-w-kwarantannie/77285
Rehm J, Shield KD. Global alcohol-attributable deaths from cancer, liver cirrhosis, and injury in 2010. Alcohol Res. 2013;35(2):174–183.
NIH. Alcohol Facts and Statistics. Last update - February 2020. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/sites/default/files/AlcoholFactsAndStats.pdf
WHO. Alcohol and COVID-19: what you need to know. 2020. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/437608/Alcohol-and-COVID-19-what-you-need-to-know.pdf
Horgan S. Drinkaware CEO: Drinkaware urges restraint on alcohol use at home amid COVID-19 pandemic. Posted on 18 Mar 2020. https://www.drinkaware.ie/latest/drinkaware-urges-restraint-on-alcohol-use-at-home-amid-covid-19-pandemic
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