COVID-19 forces people to drink more liquor — NCU study

THE novel coronavirus pandemic and its lockdown measures have triggered an increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages among sections of the Jamaican population and this includes people who reported that they suffered from emotional issues, according to the findings of a survey conducted by Northern Caribbean University (NCU) researchers.

More than four of 10 people surveyed reported that, since the advent of the pandemic in March 2019, they started consuming more alcoholic beverages, with some drinking as many as four times per week. Financial instability caused by the pandemic was the top driver for the increased alcoholic consumption. Four out of 10 respondents revealed that alcoholic consumption made it challenging or impossible for them to complete simple tasks.

An alarming result from the NCU research is that a little more than a third of all respondents reported suffering from depression since the pandemic, with nearly 70 per cent experiencing some form of psychological issue. Of the 500 participants surveyed, 336 stated that they had consumed alcoholic beverages due to emotional distress since the pandemic. “This points to a relationship between alcohol consumption and emotional distress/problems experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the researchers argued.

They concluded that depression is the most likely psychological issue faced since the pandemic, pointing to the 3.4 per cent prevalence in 2017 compared to the current prevalence of 25 per cent, which is seven times higher. This therefore reveals one clear impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on people’s mental health, according to the NCU researchers.

The research, titled ‘Impact of alcohol consumption on the psychological well-being of Jamaicans during the coronavirus pandemic,’ was conducted in June and July 2021 by an inter-departmental team led by Paul Andrew Bourne from the Department of Institutional Research.