ADDICTION: A DISEASE OF ISOLATION

BY JENNIFER FARINGER

The past several years of pandemic-related issues have increased personal and professional stressors.

A dramatic change in the workforce highlighted the challenges of working remotely, which included increased isolation and contributed to escalating rates of addiction.

Documentation post-pandemic showed a rise in the misuse of alcohol, marijuana, vaping, opioids (more recently in the form of fentanyl), and other drugs, as well as an increase in problem gambling, anxiety and depression.

Those seeking treatment or in recov- ery often lost their connections to their communities of support.

Both addiction and mental health issues have often been referred to as the diseases of despair. There are three classes of behavior-related medical conditions identified that increase in groups of people who “experience despair due to a sense that their long-term social and economic outlook is bleak.” The three disease types include drug overdose (which includes alcohol overdose), suicide and liver disease caused by alcoholism.

Early documentation from National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that

• Because COVID-19 attacks the lungs, those who smoke tobacco or marijuana, or who vape may be especially threatened.

• People who use opioids and methamphetamine may be at high risk of COVID-19 because of the effects these drugs have on respiratory and pulmonary health.

• Opioids slow breathing and have already been shown to increase mortality in people with respiratory diseases, thus diminished lung capacity from COVID-19 could similarly endanger this population.

Also instrumental to the documented increases in use and misuse was an increase and availability of the “vice” industries such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and online sports gambling, all of which saw a dramatic rise in profits throughout the pandemic.

We are gradually coming to a place of learning how to live again with the virus, seeking vaccinations and boosters just as we’ve done with influenza and pneumonia.

We are beginning to return to a new normal.

Now is the time to reevaluate how significant a role isolation has played recently in our lives, reevaluate our use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and seek education, counseling and possibly treatment.

Now is the time to proactively seek to connect and reconnect, thus ending our isolation. It’s time to seek a healthier way of life, where we not only learn to cope with stressors but reframe those stressors as challenges that motivate us to thrive with new opportunities

Resources

For multiple resource and referral directories in Monroe County visit https:// ncadd-ra.org/resources

Additionally, for referral resources within the eight counties surrounding Monroe County, visit https://ncadd-ra.org/services/finger-lakes-addiction-resource-center.

For parents, teachers and community leaders there are multiple resources on our awareness campaigns page at https:// ncadd-ra.org/resources/awareness-campaigns.

For our business leaders, consider opportunities to increase the health and wellness of your employees by accessing and requesting our workplace wellness workshops at https://ncadd-ra.org/services/ team-awareness-workplace-wellness.