The high cost of staying apart
Over the past two years, staying away from other human beings helped millions of Americans stay healthy and alive by slowing the spread of COVID. But coming back together is a lot more fun. It’s also an important way for public health to recover, as COVID slowly becomes a medically manageable part of daily life.
Coming together helps people avoid the bottomless despair that can lead to addiction and suicide. Social isolation leaves people without support structures, not to mention everyday joys, essential to wellbeing.
In Westmoreland County, the coroner’s office reported 3,500 deaths for 2021 — about 1% of the county’s population of 350,000. Roughly 15% of those deaths, or 500, were COVIDrelated; about 5% of them, or 168, were overdoses. The number of overdose deaths for 2021 was the highest since the peak year of 2017.
Opioids such as synthetic fentanyl continued to grab headlines; but quietly and without fanfare, alcohol abuse also spiked during the pandemic. Stress and, above all, social isolation removed essential checks on drinking habits.
A Journal of the American Medical Association study showed a 25% increase, nationally, in alcohol-related deaths for 2020. The 25% jump in alcohol-related deaths compared to average increases of 4% during the previous two decades.
In 2020, approximately 100,000 Americans suffered alcohol-related deaths.
More people ages 16 to 64 died from alcohol that year than from the coronavirus.
Equally troubling, 40% more young adults, ages 24-45, died from alcohol-related causes in 2020 than in the previous year.
These figures pale in comparison to the nearly 1 million Americans lost to COVID since March 2020, but they show social isolation can have deadly effects.
The pandemic precluded Alcoholics Anonymous and many other support groups from meeting. Zoom can’t replace the camaraderie of a handshake or hug. Ironically, even bar closings made drinking more unhealthy, eliminating spots where people could drink together, with bartenders and companions serving as friendly watchdogs. At home, it’s much easier (and cheaper) for a glass to become a bottle, and for occasional indulgences to morph into unhealthy habits and, finally, addictions.
Technology can help. Apps like Sunnyside remind users of their commitments to daily and weekly limits. Moderation Management, largely digital, has expanded AAstyle social support to those who are looking to moderate, not eliminate, alcohol consumption. Still, digital aids don’t replace people you care about, and who care about you.
The lead author of the AMA study told The New York Times that public health institutions should promote wellness and resiliency by helping people “live meaningful purpose-filled lives.”
They can start by encouraging people to break the habits of isolation that were formed when staying apart meant staying healthy.
Today, the health costs of social isolation far outweigh the benefits.