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“Many people die without knowing what they are eating,” he added.
People who struggle with addiction and are in the process of recovery are prone to relapses. The initial pandemic quarantines and subsequent fraying of social networks helped create a health vortex, with the rise in mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Likewise, postponing treatment for substance abuse disorders, as healthcare providers nationwide struggle to tend to large numbers of coronavirus patients and delay other services.
President and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Dr. Joseph Lee said community and social support lost during the pandemic, as well as school closures, contributed to the rise in overdose deaths. Dr. “We see a lot of people who delay getting help and seem more sick,” Lee said.
The vast majority of these deaths, about 70 percent, were among men between the ages of 25 and 54. While the opioid crisis has been characterized as one that primarily affects white Americans, a growing number of Black Americans have also been affected.
There were regional variations in death numbers, with the largest year-over-year increases—over 50 percent—in California, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Vermont’s toll was small, but increased 85 percent during the reporting period.
Increases of about 40 percent or more were seen in Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Alaska, Nebraska, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Deaths actually fell in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and South Dakota.
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