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CDC: ER visits for drug overdoses, suicide attempts rise during pandemic
UPI ^ | Feb. 3, 2021 | Brian P. Dunleavy

Posted on 02/04/2021 10:47:17 AM PST by george76

Hospital emergency rooms in the United States saw an increase in patients requiring treatment for drug overdoses and suicide attempts in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged, according to an analysis published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry...

ERs treated 14% more drug overdose patients on a weekly basis last year and treated 6% more patients after a suicide attempt compared to prior years, the data showed.

The findings highlight the need to account for the mental health effects on the pandemic as part of the overall public health response, the researchers, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in the study.

"Fear and worry about the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with implementation of mitigation measures and resultant social isolation and economic distress, stand to markedly impact mental health conditions, suicide attempts, drug overdoses and violence," the researchers wrote.

"Past research on public health crises suggests it is likely that COVID-19 and associated mitigation measures will have impacts that far outlast the short-term emergency period and that may intensify during periods of increased [COVID-19] transmission," they said.

Several studies have documented a rise in mental health disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, since the COVID-19 pandemic blossomed in the United States last March.

The increasing prevalence of these conditions has been linked with stress caused by the virus itself, which can cause serious illness and be life-threatening, and the effects of measures designed to limit its spread, such as stay-at-home orders and social distancing.

These measures have caused many people economic hardships, due to inability to work, and feelings of social isolation, research indicates.

For this study, the CDC researchers compared weekly ER visits for mental health conditions, suicide attempts, drug overdoses and acts of violence from Dec. 30, 2018, through Oct. 10 of last year.

ER visits for these issues declined in March 2020, during the early stages of the pandemic, likely due to a general reluctance to seek medical care over fears of being exposed to COVID-19 in the hospital, according to the researchers.

However, from the end of March through Oct. 10, weekly ER visits for suicide attempts nationally increased from an average of about 4,700 to an average of approximately 5,000, a 6% rise compared to the same period in 2019.

Over the same period last year, weekly ER visits for opioid drug overdoses rose from an average of about 4,200 in 2019 to 5,500, the researchers said.

Opioids include prescription pain medications, including fentanyl, as well as illegal drugs such as heroin.

Still, weekly ER visits for "intimate partner violence" declined by 9% from 2019 to 2020, and visits for suspected child abuse and neglect dropped by 15%, the data showed.

This does not indicate a reduced number of these incidents, but rather a drop in the number of cases reported and treated, the researchers said.

"This study's findings underscore the need for continued ... screening and interventions at the individual, relationship, community and societal levels, as well as longitudinal surveillance to track the long-term impacts of COVID-19," they wrote.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: attempts; cdc; covid19; drug; drugoverdoses; drugs; overdoses; suicide; suicideattempts; suicides; trump

1 posted on 02/04/2021 10:47:17 AM PST by george76
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To: george76

They are reporting on the results of a situation they helped create? Globalist bastards.


2 posted on 02/04/2021 10:53:39 AM PST by dljordan
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To: george76

Be a responsible human and have enough respect for yourself not to shoot heroin or eat fentanyl and you will not become such a statistic.


3 posted on 02/04/2021 10:55:22 AM PST by Meatspace
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To: george76

So some people died so the Democrats could win elections?

So what?

The Democrat leaders need those mansions.


4 posted on 02/04/2021 10:57:02 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: george76

No ^%&* Sherlock!


5 posted on 02/04/2021 11:00:03 AM PST by brownsfan (The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.)
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To: blueunicorn6

No, so Democrats could sieze more power then they dared only dream of before covid.


6 posted on 02/04/2021 11:00:04 AM PST by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan. )
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To: george76

Trump warned about this. The cure can’t be worse than the plague.


7 posted on 02/04/2021 11:00:32 AM PST by newzjunkey (America First - bring on Giant Meteor in 2021)
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To: george76

https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/deaths-from-alcohol-abuse-spiked-during-covid-19-lockdowns-according-to-data-from-the-uk/articleshow/80671043.cms

Deaths linked to alcohol misuse in 2020 were up 16%, per stats from England and Wales


8 posted on 02/04/2021 11:00:40 AM PST by HangnJudge (Amen (Awomen) brother!)
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To: george76

Trump predicted this would happen and was lampooned.


9 posted on 02/04/2021 11:07:22 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Potemkin Joe - Everything about him is fake)
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To: blueunicorn6

Collateral damage...


10 posted on 02/04/2021 11:11:38 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Potemkin Joe - Everything about him is fake)
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To: george76

ERs treated 14% more drug overdose patients on a weekly basis last year and treated 6% more patients after a suicide attempt compared to prior years, the data showed.


Clearly a mistake was made with the writing of this sentence. It is COVID-COVID-COVID-COVID. Always COVID-COVID-COVID-COVID. Forever COVID-COVID-COVID-COVID

You cannot have anything else but.....COVID-COVID-COVID-COVID

BTW, is there any data on how many people got the flu last year?


11 posted on 02/04/2021 11:18:06 AM PST by qaz123
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To: george76
Re: Lockdowns:

"The cure should not be worse than the disease"

--Donaldus Magnus

12 posted on 02/04/2021 11:35:57 AM PST by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: Meatspace

Opioid addictions are not the only reason those statistics are on the increase. Elderly who are using opioids for pain management are struggling to function without the medical health care they had been receiving are also overdosing accidently.


13 posted on 02/04/2021 12:16:04 PM PST by JWNM
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To: george76

And they just discovered? BS!!!

An interesting video from 11 May 2019:
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: His new MLB COVID-19 Study and the Dilemma of the Lockdown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=289NWm85eas

At approx 35:30 minutes, Dr. Jay Bhattacharaya from Stanford Medicine says that he has seen studies projecting 75,000 ADDITIONAL SUICIDES!

And yet the jamokes in the ruling class just now are catching on?
They are dumb, but few are in fact that dumb.


14 posted on 02/04/2021 12:37:17 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT ("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message.)
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To: george76

On a positive note, those dopers were out of the house getting some fresh air and sunshine while hooking up with their dealers.


15 posted on 02/04/2021 12:44:39 PM PST by bgill (Ear piece to Biden, "Salute the Marines." Biden repeats message outloud but no comprehension.)
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To: JWNM

Yes, one must be very careful when prescribed the opioids.

A common mistake is that people forget they took their previous dose and take another and another. However, there are ways to prevent such accidents.


16 posted on 02/04/2021 1:05:49 PM PST by Meatspace
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