Locking down doesn’t mean drinking up

Taking To The Bottle At Home To Cope With Anxiety During A Crisis Can Make Things Worse: WHO Expert

Andy Gregory  28.03.2020

Alcohol is an “unhelpful coping strategy” for the possible stress and isolation of coronavirus lockdown, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert has warned.

The UN agency acknowledged that many turn to drugs and alcohol in times of crisis, as a new survey suggested the pandemic has caused nearly two thirds of adults in the UK to feel anxious or worried.

But using substances to cope “can make things worse”, said Aiysha Malik of WHO Europe’s mental health and substance abuse department.

It is also vital that drug and alcohol services remain accessible throughout lockdown, Malik said, as those with substance use disorders may face a higher risk of relapse.

The warning comes a day after the government added off-licences to the list of “essential” businesses allowed to stay open during lockdown, emboldening pubs and breweries in their bid for permission to launch takeaway services.

Experts suggest there is a thin line to tread between alleviating the strain on business, ensuring dependent drinkers avoid withdrawal, and encouraging increased alcohol use among the wider population.

Amid fears the NHS could be stretched beyond capacity by an influx of Covid-19 patients, the risks of withdrawal and alcohol-related injury or health complications are particularly potent.

“While keeping off licences open is consistent with clinical advice to protect those who are physically dependent on alcohol from going into dangerous withdrawal, they wouldn’t want to unintentionally send the message that alcohol is ‘essential’ to all our lives,” Alcohol Change UK’s chief executive Richard Piper said.

Piper warned that “with routines out of the window we might well find ourselves reaching for a drink more often”.

Initial reports of supermarkets running out of alcohol and online retailers being overwhelmed with orders may point to a possible increase in consumption, but experts say it is too early to tell the overall impact that coronavirus will have on the nation’s drinking habits.

But it is logical to predict that alcohol only being available for home consumption may lead to rises in domestic violence, fires and potential increases dependence, according to James Morris of South Bank London University’s centre for addictive behaviours research.

“Predicting the longerterm behavioural impact is however particularly difficult. Perhaps for some, home drinking may become more embedded, potentially exacerbated by the further closure of already struggling pubs and bars,” Morris wrote for the ‘Society for the Study of Addiction’.

“For others, the period could highlight how valuable public and social drinking settings are, resulting in a boom in drinking out to celebrate the end of isolation.” THE INDEPENDENT

NOT A HELPFUL COPING STRATEGY