Lockdown orders and social distancing linked to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic exacerbated substance abuse problems and “adverse” mental health disorders among U.S. adults, including suicidal thoughts, a survey unveiled Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed.
The spread and impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) coupled with “mitigation activities, including the impact of physical distancing and stay-at-home orders” fueled the mental health and substance abuse disorders, the CDC acknowledged, confirming predictions made by Trump administration officials and independent experts.
CDC found:
Symptoms of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder increased considerably in the United States during April–June of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. … Suicidal ideation was also elevated; approximately twice as many respondents reported serious consideration of suicide in the previous 30 days than did adults in the United States in 2018, referring to the previous 12 months (10.7% versus 4.3%).
More than 5,000 U.S. adults over the age of 18 responded to the web-based survey between June 24 and 30.
“U.S. adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19,” CDC noted.
Over 40 percent of respondents reported struggling with at least one adverse mental or behavioral health problem, including:
- anxiety and depression symptoms (31 percent);
- trauma or stressor-related disorder symptoms related to the pandemic (26 percent);
- starting or increasing substance abuse to cope with stress (13 percent); and
- seriously considering suicide in the preceding 30 days (11 percent).
CDC noted:
Younger adults, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers reported having experienced disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation. … Markedly elevated prevalences of reported adverse mental and behavioral health conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the broad impact of the pandemic and the need to prevent and treat these conditions.
In March, California became the first U.S. state to impose a stay-at-home order to stem the spread of COVID-19. The vast majority of states followed suit, placing nearly all of the U.S. population under lockdown orders.
Georgia was the first state to reopen in late April, prompting the others to do the same. However, several states have since paused or rolled back their phased reopening efforts.
Echoing the CDC findings and independent assessments, Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), warned in April that lockdown measures could fuel mental health issues like suicides.
At the end of June, Jim Carroll, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, warned that lethal drug overdoses linked to the U.S. lockdowns are “surging” after posting the first decline in three decades in 2018.
“Experts expect the grim death count to keep rising,” Carroll indicated, according to Politico.
Besides mental health and substance abuse problems, the lockdowns intensified domestic violence in the United States and beyond, according to experts, law enforcement officials, and the United Nations.
Nevertheless, the Democrat-allied mainstream media had a meltdown when President Donald Trump warned that an economic downturn could fuel a rise in overdoses and suicides when calling for the rapid reopening of states and businesses.
U.S. officials have also confirmed that children are now at risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases due to the spread of coronavirus and the associated shutdowns.
Still, some Democrats and so-called health professionals are pursuing a second lockdown wave.
CDC Director Robert Redfield recently stressed that the U.S. must reopen K thru 12 schools with in-person learning for public health reasons, including combating drug abuse and preventing suicides.
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