XPost: or.politics, seattle.politics, alt.law-enforcement
XPost: ca.politics, alt.california
from
https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960492035/deaths-of-despair-how-the-pandemic-may-be-fueling-lethal-drug-overdoses
They Lost Sons To Drug Overdoses: How The Pandemic May Be Fueling Deaths
Of Despair
January 26, 20215:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
Scott Horsley 2010
SCOTT HORSLEY
Lights placed as a memorial to COVID-19 victims surround the Lincoln
Memorial Reflecting Pool on Jan. 19. Some economists believe deaths tied
to alcohol use, drug use and suicides have risen during the pandemic as
the isolation felt by many has taken an emotional toll.
Alex Brandon/AP
Karen Butcher's son Matthew struggled for years with an addiction to
opioids. She's convinced the pandemic made it worse.
The restaurant in Scott County, Ky., where Matthew worked as a bartender
closed before the pandemic, and soon other establishments, from
restaurants to stores, followed suit as states imposed lockdowns.
"One day you're a bartender and you're serving people and having a great
time at it and then the next day the doors are closed," Butcher recalls.
"Then COVID hits. It was the perfect storm."
Butcher says her son was increasingly isolated, just at a time when his unemployment checks were starting to come in.
"He was lonely. He was depressed. He didn't have a reason any more to
get up and keep going," she said. "And then, all this money flows in
because of unemployment. So you're isolated, you have lots of money, and
your coping skill has always been drug use."
Matthew died of a drug overdose, alone in his apartment, last May.
Article continues after sponsor message
Pandemic's Emotional Hammer Hits Hard
HEALTH
Pandemic's Emotional Hammer Hits Hard
Ordinarily, a spike in unemployment doesn't lead to a spike in overdose
deaths. People who aren't working often don't have the money to buy drugs.
But University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan says the COVID
recession is unusual. Federal relief payments put more money in people's pockets last spring, just as many of the usual ways to spend it were
closed off.
"Vacations or eating out or anything group oriented — going to a sports
game, concerts, bars. And that kind of left the sort of things that you
do by yourself," Mulligan said. "Taking opioids is something that people
can do by themselves."
Mulligan, who was a White House economist in the Trump administration,
argued in a recent working paper that increased isolation during the
pandemic may have contributed to rising "deaths of despair" — that is, suicides, alcohol-related deaths and especially drug overdoses.
It's an argument the Trump administration often made against government stay-at-home orders, though Mulligan admits the pandemic itself may be isolating. His paper suggests that "deaths of despair" may have
increased during the pandemic.
"It's not a happy time when you're not with other people. Most people
are social," Mulligan said in an interview. "And the pandemic has been anti-social. Whether it's voluntary quarantine or mandatory is a
separate question. People have definitely been alone more."
Sleepless Nights, Hair Loss And Cracked Teeth: Pandemic Stress Takes Its
Toll
HEALTH
Sleepless Nights, Hair Loss And Cracked Teeth: Pandemic Stress Takes Its
Toll
And a person who accidentally overdoses alone may be at greater risk of
dying, since there's no one else around to call for help, or administer life-saving medicine like naloxone.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last month that
the pandemic may have contributed to a rise in deadly drug overdoses.
But Princeton economist Anne Case, who co-authored a book on deaths of
despair, is wary of putting too much blame on the pandemic. She notes
that overdose deaths were already climbing sharply the year before the coronavirus took hold. Case suspects a bigger problem is the nationwide
spread of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
"There's this horribly dangerous, deadly drug on the market that is
responsible for this explosion of drug overdoses," Case said.
Fentanyl used to be rare west of the Mississippi, but it's now found
throughout the country.
Chris Permoda overdosed on fentanyl in Arizona last July, just over a
month after his mother drove him home from prison.
"When they found him, they found one needle out the package," Mary
Permoda recalled. "So that was the first time he had used since he got
out. And he died — first dose."
While the powerful opioid was the direct cause of her son's death, Mary
Permoda has no doubt that the pandemic was also a factor.
"Absolutely," she said. "Oh my God, absolutely."
Sharp Rise In Drug Overdose Deaths Seen During 1st Few Months Of Pandemic HEALTH
Sharp Rise In Drug Overdose Deaths Seen During 1st Few Months Of Pandemic Permoda says her son tried desperately to find an in-person support
group last year, even suggesting he might start his own meeting in a
parking lot, if necessary. Zoom counseling and on-line support groups
just weren't working for him.
"He craved being part of a group that understood what he was going
through, in person. And it just couldn't happen," Permoda said. "So yes,
I believe it impacted it greatly."
Both Mary Pomoda and Karen Butcher have found their own comfort and
support through a group called Parents of Addicted Loved Ones, or PAL.
Butcher said for her, it's been a lifeline.
"Everybody needs a group of people who are walking a similar path," she
said. "We laugh, we cry, we pray, we learn. And we become a family who
learns it's a common language."
Pomoda says this family — united by their loved ones' addiction — is growing all too quickly.
"This is an epidemic second to coronavirus, I'm here to tell you," she said.
Drug overdoses, suicides, and alcohol-related deaths killed 165,000
Americans in 2019. Princeton's Case warns that while vaccines will
eventually provide relief from the deadly coronavirus, finding a way to immunize people against these deaths may be even harder.
"Once COVID is in the rear-view mirror, we still have a lot of work to
do to try to bring down the numbers of people who are dying annually in
the U.S. from suicide, drug overdose, and from alcohol," Case said.
pandemic death toll
deaths of despair
drug overdose
coronavirus
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)