Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions During the COVID-19 Pandemic and COVID-19-Related Restrictions

Abstract

COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China in December of 2019 and appeared in the United States 1 month later. Between the onset of the pandemic and January 13, 2021, over 92 million people have tested positive for the virus and over 1.9 million people have died globally. Virtually every country in the world has been impacted by this virus. Beginning in March 2020, many U.S. state governments enforced a “quarantine” to respond to the growing health crisis. Citizens were required to remain at home; schools, restaurants, and non-essential businesses were forced to close, and large gatherings were prohibited. Americans' lives were transformed in a span of days as daily routines were interrupted and people were shuttered indoors. Mounting fear and unpredictability coupled with widespread unemployment and social isolation escalated anxiety and impacted the mental health of millions across the globe. Most (53%) U.S. adults reported that the coronavirus outbreak has had a negative impact on their mental health, including inducing or exacerbating use of alcohol, drugs, gambling and overeating as coping mechanisms. In this paper, we will examine substance use and addictive behaviors that have been used to manage the stress and uncertainty wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. We review the changing treatment landscape as therapy pivoted online and telemedicine became the norm.

Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Determinants of Excessive Drinking During the COVID-19 Lockdown in the Slovak Republic

“…The findings are in line with the assumption that lower levels of alcohol consumption can be expected at the beginning of the pandemic due to reduced alcohol availability (3). This can also be explained by the fact that during the COVID-19 lockdown, the availability of alcohol was lower in terms of closed bars, pubs, cafes, clubs and restaurants, and people could consume alcohol bought in the store only at home (24,25). The change in offpremises alcohol consumption may not have been substantial in the short term, as could also be seen in an Australian study conducted by Vandenberg et al (26).…”

Efectos Psicológicos Del Confinamiento Por Pandemia De Covid-19 en Una Muestra en Tratamiento De Adicciones en España

“…Although the literature reports that the COVID-19 pandemic and confinement have increased addictive behaviors and drug and alcohol consumption in a large part of the world population (Alexander et al, 2020;Avena et al, 2021;Becker & Fiellin, 2020;Volkow, 2020), and that given the critical situation, some services for people with addictions have had to be closed or interrupted, in addition to cuts to funds for this cause (Morris, 2020;Murray, 2020), it has also been shown that receiving some type of psychotherapeutic support or psychological treatment (even telematically) during the health crisis caused by COVID-19 is a protective factor for mental health in general (Brouzos et al, 2021;Roncero et al, 2020), and especially in people with diagnoses of addiction or other mental illnesses (Blanco et al, 2020;Gobbi et al, 2020).…”

Stress Sources and Behavioral Addiction Inclinations of Teachers in the Covid-19 Outbreak

“…There are some certain studies examining behavioral addiction trends during the COVID-19 outbreak that focused on a single type of addiction. Kadeswaran et al (2020) behavior during the pandemic process (Amin et al, 2020;Avena et al, 2021. Marsden et al (2020) adhered to DSM classification, addressing only opioid, alcohol, tobacco and gambling in the COVID-19 outbreak.…”