Alexander England

The pain and loss sink in almost immediately when the solemn news hits like a freight train, however the anger and rage sets in when one walks away from the grave of someone they loved, someone they lost. A silent killer masquerading as pleasure lays waste to thousands of lives. Praying on the desperate, the lonely, and the isolated it finds a way to rob everything from its victims before it takes their very life. These people forsake their lives and families before sacrificing their health and know only too late the dangers of what they have done. They fail to ask and plea for help for they feel that there is nothing wrong with what they have done or what they are doing. Addiction has robbed so many of their lives, so many childrenless parents, widowed spouses, and siblingless siblings all feel the pain and loss that it brings. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic and alarming increase in addiction and substance abuse rates. People who have lost everything turn to self-medication to solve their problems, loneliness in isolation turns into a bottle of pills or a bottle of booze. To understand and potentially solve this problem a two-part question must be raised on why addiction rates have increased in the pandemic, and what steps can be taken to prevent such an increase? The Kiros, the critical timing of this research is based on the lack of action taken to address the high addiction rates, and how the pandemic and its addiction consequences are happening here and now as these words are written. 

This project is aimed at change, change at every level from an individual to the federal government to combat these high rates of addiction. That lawmakers and politicians can enact change for the better, but anyone can step in and step up to intervene in addiction. That could mean changing the life of one person or one thousand people. Admittedly there is no perfect system, there is no iron-clad research project. As this project will answer that two-part question of why this is happening and what can be done it is up to the audience to decide whether that solution is adequate or not. There are always holes in research, but those holes can be filled by anyone with the desire to keep digging, which is precisely the goal of this project. To incite action into those with the desire to enact change for the better. 

Before a solution to this problem can be proposed, understanding the problem is critical for how one can propose a solution to a problem they do not understand. The first part of that critical research question or CRQ is why has addiction risen during the pandemic, and the first source presented to answer this question is an article by Michel Rounds an addiction recovery specialist. Rounds is a valued secondary source as he not only is a specialist in addiction recovery and is working during the COVID-19 pandemic he is also a former addict himself, thus his perspective is of extreme value concerning this research question. His article published by psychology today sheds light on why addiction has risen in the pandemic. Rounds makes his first remarks saying “When an individual is isolated at home and there is nothing to do, the individual often turns to things that are deemed unhealthy for them” (Psychology Today). So while some might turn to watch more Netflix than they should, eat a tad too much ice cream, or even spend a bit too much time online shopping others turn to more damaging habits. All addictions have a beginning, and the point Michel Rounds is trying to make is that COVID-19 and its consequences have given many people that beginning. Unfortunately, as addictions have a beginning they also have an end as “Over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period” (Psychology Today). While the problem of addiction is clearly illustrated in that haunting 81,000 deaths the cause is rooted in much deeper issues. The article Michel Rounds wrote says “The three biggest areas show that, for those that were in the hardest-hit areas of the pandemic, 53% of users were trying to cope with the stressors of life, 39% were working to avoid boredom, and 32% were simply trying to cope with life and deal with anxiety and depression issues” (Phycology Today). In this quote cited readers can find hyperlinks to better understand depression and anxiety, this, in turn, will help those understand its correlation to addiction. With lockdowns in place, people are forced to deal with their problems quite literally “in-house” causing those with more serious life situations whether that be mental health issues, the loss of a job, or even the loss of a loved one to treat their pains with substances. 

While secondary sources are valuable and the article by Michel Rounds was illuminating, a first-hand account is often a good compliment to such a source. An interview with a former addict who got clean during the pandemic had valuable insight into his story. The person requested to remain anonymous as this writing project will be posted online, so for the sake of confidentiality this person will be called John Smith. John described his addiction as a “band-aid to the larger problems in his life” and that “as life got harder, in my mind that was time to hit the bottle harder” (Smith). John is a senior in high school and is proud to say he is the first of his family to be accepted into a four-year college, the pandemic caused him and his family hardships as his father was laid off from his job. John described his experience “as if suddenly the floor was falling out from under you, that everything that you thought was solid was suddenly being uprooted” (Smith). Everyone in the world experienced some sort of trauma as a result of this pandemic, and people like John and his family are the people who fall through the cracks. John turned to alcohol, a depressant, to reduce the stress the pandemic put upon him. Stories like these are the ones that turn people who would never abuse substances, into full-blown addicts. John put it best when he said “people learned new definitions of lonely, afraid, and even bored being an alcoholic changed who I was, but getting clean made me a stronger person” (Smith). While it is a great thing John and people like him are cleansed of their addictions, there are others who are not so fortunate. 

Understanding the problem is one thing, solving it is another. One might understand complex logarithmic functions, but do not incline how to solve for one. The point is that understanding is the first step, and as it is completed the time has come to examine possible solutions. The secondary source concerning the steps that can be taken to resolve or prevent addiction is a complex solution. This article is very credible as it was published in May of 2020 and was published by none other than the National Library of Medicine. The authors point to this article was that the blanket shutdowns that governments have employed to combat covid have caused critical treatment centers to close as well. The National Library of Medicine published an article describing SUD (substance use disorder) increase during the pandemic. The article states “Addiction care must be reinforced, instead of postponed, in order to avoid complications of both SUD and COVID-19 and to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.”(National Library of Medicine). It seems here the clear line between help and hurt is whether or not addicts can get treatment or if those critical treatments have been shut down or closed because of the pandemic. The equation is simple, addicts minus treatment equals overdoses. The purpose of this article was to explain to their audience that while some COVID-19 measures are very helpful others are counterproductive to the salvation of the people there trying to save.

The primary source that pushes the point of opening treatment centers, and its impact on addiction rates and recovery. This was another interview with a member of the Arizona Addiction Treatment Center. The first question that was asked was, what has happened to the addiction recovery programs over the past year? To which the representative replied, “There have been alarming increases in Arizona especially with opioid addictions and overdoses. Our efforts are on recovery and rehabilitation, but there is a serious problem here that is being missed” (AATC). It is abundantly clear that addiction rates in the pandemic have crept up on treatment centers like these and at the wrong time too. The representative goes on to explain that “Like anything during the pandemic our operation has adapted, the health and safety of our patients have and always will be our top priority, unfortunately, most centers had to be shut down in the early portions of the pandemic making it hard to treat patients” (AATC). This response is congruent with what The National Library of Medicine spoke to with the closure of treatment and detox centers. 

Like anything in life, and in writing there are limitations. The whole picture, all the contributing factors to addiction cannot be accounted for in this project. Nor can all the solutions to the issue of addiction in the pandemic be found, and the one proposed is not the only solution. What counts is that it is a solution, a possible way to prevent and cure additions that are going on as these words are written. This project is limited by both time and length, which means the significance of the points presented and the solutions proposed are far greater. With more time the phycological implications of addiction as well as a thorough explanation of the terms of loneliness, anxiety, and depression would be conducted. However, it is notable that hyperlinks to some of these definitions are provided in the text as a multi-modal element. Understandably addiction is not a blanket problem, its causes can be individualized to thousands of causes, such that it can be argued that there are thousands of solutions to addiction. This project, of course, generalizes addiction in the pandemic by meticulous research, then proposes a solution that is generalized in itself.

After answering all these questions, there is one left. What can be done? What can people do to prevent and stop addiction? The first thing that can be done, and what everyone can do is to stop stigmas. Stigmas are a small part of the problem as they insist that the problem remain hidden, or that it doesn’t exist at all. The second thing people can do is keep treatment centers open, fight for them to stay open, and receive sufficient funding. Then the last and most important thing is that addicts get to these treatment centers, that those who are suffering and in need can get the care that they deserve. That while blame can be cast upon them for “making bad decisions” addiction is a disease in the mind, and those people no longer have control over their lives. No one wants to lose someone they love, no one wants to feel that pain, and anger, and rage. To stand over a grave and feel robbed of a loved one is a heart-wrenching experience. There is hope for the hopeless, redemption for anyone who has the will to ask for it. But that's all one must to… ask. 

Citations

Ornell, Felipe et al. “The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on substance use: Implications for prevention and treatment.” Psychiatry research vol. 289 (2020): 113096. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113096

Rounds, Michael J. How Is Addiction Affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic? 14 Jan. 2021, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/10000-days-sober/202101/how-is-addiction-affected-the-covid-19-pandemic. 

John, Smith. In-person interview. 29 Mar. 2021

Arizona Addiction Treatment Center. Telephone interview. 4 April. 2021