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.
Highlights
COVID-19 appeared on January 15th, 2020 in the United States as a novel coronavirus about which scientists and doctors knew very little [1]
In a study involving about 400 college students, 50.8% reported that their gaming had increased during the COVID-19 lockdown [34]
The findings revealed that 34% of respondents reported changes or disruptions in their treatment or recovery support services since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, with 14% reporting that they have been unable to receive their needed services [21]
Summary
COVID-19 appeared on January 15th, 2020 in the United States as a novel coronavirus about which scientists and doctors knew very little [1]. The specificity of a syndemic is that it involves biological and social interactions and takes into account socioeconomic disparities that cause certain communities to be more heavily affected by the virus than others These communities usually lack access to healthcare and tend to be low-income communities. It is important to take this social aspect into account when tallying the effects of COVID-19 on the US population [4] One of these tragic effects is the impact COVID-19 has had on the mental health of millions of Americans. Over half of U.S adults reported that the coronavirus outbreak has had a negative impact on their mental health Of those adults, 12% reported an increase in alcohol or drug use [11]. The keywords used to find the sources that are cited include: COVID-19, lockdown, substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, food addiction, mental health, depression
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