Alcoholism: The longer the lockdown, the harder the heavy drinkers drink
In a new study, researchers in the USA point to the connection between binge drinking – loosely translated as binge drinking – and the Covid-19 pandemic, especially countermeasures such as lockdowns. The pandemic and its aftermath apparently promoted existing personal crises and exacerbated them, the authors write in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
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In the study, they report on the survey of around 2,000 adult US citizens between mid-March and mid-April. That was the time of the first lockdown, or the “Stay in Shelter Orders”, i.e. the first nationwide order to stay at home. The participants in the study were on average 42 years old and 69 percent women. The proportion of high earners was above average.
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The scientists found that people who had problematic drinking behavior before the pandemic continued to increase their alcohol consumption during the lockdown in around 60 percent of cases. It was determined to be problematic when men consumed five or more alcoholic beverages and women four or more in two hours. The proportion of drinkers who exceeded this limit increased by 19 percent with each subsequent week of the lockdown.
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Scientists advise improving health care and paying more attention to signs of alcoholism and depression so that those affected can intervene earlier before serious damage to health occurs.
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