Alcohol consumption common coping response to stress during Covid-19: Study

As the world fights in opposition to challenges arising from the unfold of Covid-19, alcohol consumption has grow to be a standard coping response to scale back stress amid the pandemic, in keeping with the specialists.

The article was printed within the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Considering Covid-19, specialists at McLean Hospital examined potential methods to average and cut back rising alcohol consumption within the face of the pandemic.

Because the Covid-19 pandemic is longer lasting and extra intensive than earlier traumatic events–with widespread social disruption and isolation, restricted social assist and entry to medical care, and damaging home and international financial impacts–it might have a good larger impact on population-wide alcohol use.

“We hope this article will call attention to the pandemic’s effects on alcohol use and offer mitigating approaches to this under-recognized public health concern,” mentioned co-author Dawn E Sugarman, PhD, a analysis psychologist within the Centre of Excellence in Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction at McLean Hospital.

The article stresses that public well being messages ought to embrace schooling about managing stress and nervousness with out utilizing alcohol, ingesting inside protected limits throughout bodily distancing and social isolation, and understanding when a person must be involved about themselves or another person.

The authors additionally name for larger efforts to display screen for alcohol use problems throughout main care visits and to supply therapies for people in danger for relapse or exacerbation of heavy ingesting.

“Increasing identification of harmful alcohol use in patients and intervening early are key components of addressing this problem. In addition, recognition of the problem from policymakers could lead to changes in federal regulations–such as we have seen with telehealth–and improvements in access to health care,” mentioned co-author Shelly F Greenfield, MD, MPH, director of the Alcohol, Drug, and Addiction Clinical and Health Services Research Program at McLean Hospital.

The specialists famous that the complete influence of Covid-19 on alcohol use just isn’t but recognized, however rising charges through the first few months of the pandemic level to the pressing want for efficient public well being and medical responses.

(This story has been printed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.)

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