City’s battle with the bottle
Alcoholism a problem among residents, Stamford health experts say
STAMFORD — When it comes to substance abuse in Stamford, one substance clearly outpaces all others: alcohol.
According to Stamford Health’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, alcoholism and binge drinking continue to be the most common substance abuse problems in the city.
It’s particularly prevalent in the population between the ages of 18 and 34, in which almost 45 percent of city residents told Stamford Health they binged on alcohol at least once in the previous 30 days. And 5 percent of that cohort reported binge drinking — defined as five drinks on one occasion for a man, and four for a woman — 10 or more times a month.
Almost one third of Stamford residents over the age of 18 reported binge drinking at least once in the previous 30 days.
For Ben Wade, senior vice president of strategy and marketing at Stamford Health, the findings are nothing new, and the figures essentially mirror those of the entire state.
“It is a perennial area of focus for us,” he said. “Alcohol is far and away the biggest substance that people are abusing in the community.”
He said Stamford Health ran an analysis of the total number of hospital visits
from patients with an alcohol abuse diagnosis between 2016 and early 2019. What they found was a shocking number of patients who were return visitors.
The 20 patients who came to the emergency room most often in that span represented 25 percent, or onefourth, of the 5,978 total ER visits from patients due to alcohol over that time. That means that those 20 patients went to the emergency room 1,495 times combined in just over three years.
When looking at those 20 people, Stamford Health found that the demographic was mostly comprised of white or Hispanic men, who were single, unemployed, and between the ages of 21 and 60. A third of those visitors also had no insurance, Wade said, while 40 percent were on Medicaid and 8 percent on Medicare.
“What this tells us is … there is a very small number of people who are really struggling and they tend to be isolated, disconnected and lower income,” Wade said.
Alcohol abuse spreads across all economic and social demographics, however. Luis Perez, president andCEOofMentalHealth Connecticut, said alcohol’s
social acceptance only exacerbates the problem.
At a recent panel organized by Stamford Health, Perez said alcoholism has played a role in the increase in suicides across the state. From 2016 to 2017, the rate of suicide for people between the ages of 10 and 24 doubled, from 4.34 per 100,000 people to 8.13, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control.
Alcohol played a role in a violent car crash this summer on Canal Street in Stamford that claimed the lives of two of the six people inside the car. The driver, 18yearold Jerry Diaz, lost control of the Nissan Altima he was driving at more than 90 mph.
His bloodalcohol concentration was .137 percent, well above the .02 legal limit for anyone under the age of 21, according to court records. For those older than 21, the legal limit is .08 percent. Diaz faces two counts of seconddegree manslaughter and multiple other charges.
According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 15.1 million adults in the United States ages 18 and older had an alcohol use disorder, and only 6.7 percent received treatment.
In response to alcohol abuse issues in the community, Stamford Hospital
recently started offering a program called Emergency Department Recovery Coach, through the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, or CCAR, nonprofit. The program provides substance abuse “recovery coaches” in emergency rooms. Patients with a substance abuse issue who come into the ER are asked if they would like a coach. If they agree, and many do, that person becomes their partner in treatment.
By next month, the program will be in 20 hospitals across the state.
Tom Russo, communications manager for CCAR, said 93 percent of people who agreed to see a coach as part of the ER program were then connected to an organization that could provide support or care, while the other 7 percent backed away.
More than 70 patients have been connected to recovery coaches in Stamford since the program began in April.
Russo said CCAR offers assistance freeofcharge to those dealing with addiction. Anyone can walk in and talk to a recovery coach and get connected to community support groups. The organization has five recovery centers, with the one in Bridgeport the closest in proximity to Stamford.
He said alcohol is just as much of a problem as opioids in the communities where CCAR centers are located.
“It doesn’t kill you as quickly, but it destroys lives just the same,” he said.
Ingrid Gillespie, executive director of Stamfordbased nonprofit Communities 4 Action, said access to alcohol remains a major obstacle toward curbing abuse.
“We have kids in our communities who can readily access it,” she said.
She said parents can make a difference by being good role models for their children and helping them to stay off of drugs. She encourages parents to have alcoholfree parties around their children as a start.
“If you never have a social situation without alcohol, the child will perceive that you can’t have fun without alcohol,” she said.
Gillespie said that the perception around alcohol is also much different than other drugs. It’s become accepted that heavy drinking is a natural part of growing up, particularly during a person’s college years.
“And people don’t even think of it as a drug,” she said.