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Health expert says pandemic isolation contributed to spike in B.C. overdose deaths
(www.theglobeandmail.com)
Lol, what is that thumbnail photo.
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
20 points (85.7% liked)
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I was fine with isolation until everyone told me how bad it was
LOL. This is so true.
So many people thrived during lockdown.
If you're going to abuse drugs and alcohol, you never learned some basic skills growing up.
Resilience, perseverance, and grit are learned skills that take time to develop. Substance abuse contributes nothing to becoming a stronger person.
Addiction is an insidious bitch and it really does not help anyone belittling those who did struggle during lockdown.
I hope nobody took my comment as belittling, as that's not what I intended. I've had family go through substance abuse, so I know how devastating it can be for people and their family.
Substance abuse is used as a crutch, and it never contributes to the wellbeing of an individual.
If more people learned how to be more resilient before needing to turn to drugs or alcohol to cope, nobody would ever start using drugs and alcohol to begin with.
I hear ya. I guess the point I'm making is some people struggle with being resilient. Either they do not have access to the tools or have not developed the ability. It's no fault of their own.
Personally speaking with addiction running in my extended family I'm happy the only habit I picked up during the pandemic was running.
I'm happy the only habit I picked up during the pandemic was running.
And I hope you're still running!
And this is why COVID-19 was a revealer of just how rotten western culture is at its core.
How's that?
Absolutely no regard for communal good.
While I would some what agree with that statement, I read this as more of the people who were going to do the drugs, did them by themselves and not with people around the like they usually would.
People used drugs and booze as a coping mechanism to deal with the isolation, some who in deed did not have a supportive community around the, like you said. But to point that out as a strictly "western" cultural issue is a little silly.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The isolation protocols of the COVID-19 pandemic that kept people from gathering in groups contributed to an increase in drug overdose deaths in British Columbia, says a health expert.
βAfter five years of telling people not to use alone, we told an entire population not to be with each other,β she said during an opening address at the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine conference.
B.C.βs overdose death rate is now two times higher than it was when the province declared a public health emergency in 2016 as the opioid fentanyl flooded the illicit market, she said.
The BC Coroners Service reports almost 13,000 people have died from illicit drug overdoses since the health emergency was declared.
needs more overdose prevention sites and a renewed commitment to decriminalization as it tries to curb drug poisonings that kill and average of six people a day.
She said the decriminalization debate has prompted reactions that have been uncomfortable at times, but likely give more attention to the issue.
The original article contains 590 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
It seems crazy that staying home caused it to double. Would fentanyl increase to cut for profit loss during covid causing higher deaths or something like that rather than just isolation. Because a doubling seems high
-
I isolate --> I could die from drugs but I don't risk anyone else
-
I do not isolate --> I could hurt others but I'm at less overdose risk
You know which I prefer if it's that binary choice?