Written by Kimia Asgari
In December 2019, the world was introduced to a seemingly minuscule phenomenon that ended up changing everything in unprecedented ways. The spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 disease, was declared a public health emergency on 30 January 2020, and became classified as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. As the world went into lockdown, many people faced unemployment and financial tensions, economies failed, hospitals became overcrowded, and people became fearful for the health of themselves and their loved ones. All these events undoubtedly created a certain level of fear and anxiety in everyone. Individuals use different coping mechanisms to deal with stress, which can be either positive or negative mechanisms. One negative coping mechanism that some individuals use when stress levels are overwhelming is substance abuse.
The social and psychological stresses induced by the pandemic may generate negative emotions, which can significantly intensify drug abuse or trigger a relapse. The American Medical Association compared urine samples of 75,000 individuals from before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results represent the increases (from before the pandemic began to current levels) in the percentage of samples containing the following substances: a 19% increase in cocaine, 67% increase in fentanyl, 33% increase in heroin and 23% increase in methamphetamine consumption. The rise in substance use is attributed to the continued isolation, economic challenges, unemployment, boredom, decreased access to rehabilitation facilities and lack of resources that society faces.
Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) are amongst the more vulnerable people during the pandemic. Usually, people with SUD suffer from major medical issues such as respiratory deficits, cardiovascular disease, hepatitis C and other illnesses, which makes SUD patients more susceptible to the SARS-CoV2 virus. Withdrawal symptoms can drive people to violate preventive measures to get access to their preferred drug. With the majority of the healthcare workers focused on the pandemic, limited medical assistance can be provided to these individuals. Not only do pre-existing medical issues put SUD patients at more risk of contracting COVID-19, but evidence suggests that there are associations between clinical and demographic characteristics and COVID-19 lethality. Also, COVID-19 puts SUD patients at a higher risk of experiencing substance use complications, such as chronic respiratory diseases.
Rehabilitation centers and treatment programs for drug abuse are trying their best to provide the most effective and safe services to SUD patients during the pandemic. Many measures have been implemented in these facilities to ensure the safety of patients and staff, including the use of personal protection equipment (PPE), sanitation, and limiting the number of individuals who enter a facility for their prescribed therapeutic dose. Patients with COVID-19 symptoms or possible risk of infection and comorbidities receive two weeks’ worth of medication. On the other hand, patients who are unqualified for take-home medications due to safety reasons receive their daily dose at their designated facilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unusual circumstances and a new “normal” for people of all ages, around the globe, to adjust to. Some individuals, such as SUD patients, are more vulnerable to the virus. Rehabilitation facilities have implemented measures to adapt to these new circumstances and provide the best care to SUD patients during these difficult times. In recovering and rebuilding from the pandemic, addressing and resolving the substance abuse crisis must be a top priority across the world.
Works Cited
Datac. (2020). Drug use on the rise amid coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved from https://datac.ca/drug-use-on-the-rise-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/?locale=en
Sarlin. E. (2017). Substance Use Disorders Are Associated With Major Medical Illnesses and Mortality Risk in a Large Integrated Health Care System. NIDA. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2017/10/substance-use-disorders-are-associated-major-medical-illnesses-mortality-risk-in-large-integrated
Mukherjee. T. I., El-Bassel. N. (2020). The perfect storm: COVID-19, mass incarceration and the opioid epidemic. Int Jor Drug Pol, 83, 102819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102819
Ornell, F., Moura, H. F., Scherer, J. N., Pechansky, F., Kessler, F., & von Diemen, L. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on substance use: Implications for prevention and treatment. Psychiatry research, 289, 113096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113096
Peavy, M. K., et al. (2020). Rapid Implementation of Service Delivery Changes to Mitigate COVID-19 and Maintain Access to Methadone Among Persons with and at High-Risk for HIV in an Opioid Treatment Program. AIDS and Behavior, 24, 2469-2472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02887-1
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