Strain of pandemic drives Americans to drink more

The strain of the coronavirus pandemic, now almost two years old, has contributed to a national uptick in alcohol consumption, experts say.

People might not feel as isolated as they did during the height of the pandemic, when in-person activities were limited or shut down at many workplaces, schools and social venues, but infection rates are climbing again.

Mandy Fauble, director of clinical care services at UPMC, cited a study from the RAND Corporation showing the frequency of alcohol consumption jumped by 14% among adults over 30 during the pandemic.

“We’re seeing an uptick in the number of individuals coming to treatment where their primary diagnosis is alcohol,” added Laura Bisbey, regional director of inpatient services for Gateway Rehab, which has locations throughout the Pittsburgh region.

From October 2018 through October 2019, Gateway Rehab treated 1,557 patients with alcohol use disorders. That number jumped to 1,629 over the next year, and from October 2020 through this past October, Gateway Rehab had seen 1,740 individuals with alcohol use disorders, Bisbey said.

The heavier drinking has been particularly prevalent among women, with data showing that women increased their heavy drinking episodes — defined as four or more drinks consumed within a couple of hours — by 41%, according to the RAND study.

For many stay-at-home and single mothers, the extra stress of having to play a significant role in helping their children with remote learning and the isolation of having to spend more time at home has contributed, Bisbey said.

At Gateway Rehab, 67% of people treated for alcohol use disorder from October 2018 through October 2019 were men. That dipped from October 2020 through October of this year, with 65% of patients being men.

Gateway also has seen upticks in people seeking help for opioid addictions, she said.

“A big part of diffusing our stress is being with our friends, being with other people. We backed away from those things. We were left without some of our most important coping mechanisms,” said Dr. Mark Fuller, director of Allegheny Health Network’s Center for Recovery Medicine. “A lot of the ways we as humans cope with stress were taken away from us”.

Fuller said he’s seen an increased number of patients with alcohol-related issues in their outpatient clinic, hospitals and emergency rooms. Relapse rates also seem to be increasing, Fuller said, explaining that the rate of relapse after five years has been so low it’s “almost unrecordable,” but it seems to be increasing now.

“I have seen more people relapse that have more than five years recovery in the past year than I’ve seen over the previous 20,” he said. “It’s just so sad to see folks that have really put together these major changes and have made great success just to have it crumble when the stress level was too high and the support level too low.”

Fuller couldn’t predict when the numbers might begin to drop.

“There’s lots of people that drink alcohol that do not qualify for alcohol use disorder but may feel they’re drinking at a level that’s unhealthy for them,” Fuller said.

They should reach out to experts or loved ones for support, he said.

Initiatives like “Dry January” or “Sober October” are prime times to begin cutting back on alcohol with friends and family, Fauble said. Having friends or family members participating can make it easier to do so, she said.

Even for people who aren’t drinking enough to risk serious health issues, she said there are reasons to consider monitoring how much and how often to drink.

“Alcohol actually can weaken your immune system, so in a time when we are really sensitive to how having a strong immune system is really important, I think it’s important to note how alcohol can impact your immune system,” she said.

It’s also linked to depression and anxiety, issues that many are already facing because of the pandemic. Other potential problems caused by even minimal or moderate alcohol use include poor sleep and high blood pressure, she said.

In the midst of a pandemic that has changed so many daily habits, Fauble said even something as socially accepted as drinking should be a topic of serious conversation. It’s in times of significant stress and isolation, she said, that people may begin slipping into problems they didn’t see coming.

“No one who has an alcohol use disorder started out with that as their goal, but a lot of people ended up in that place,” she said. “Sometimes we end up in that place because we habituate ourselves into something without realizing it’s happening.”

More information and resources on alcohol and alcoholism are available on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism website. A statewide hotline to offer support is available at 1-800-662-4357.