Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic • Hacker News Board

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#111

Post by SpicyLemonZest » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:00 AM UTC

victorhooi wrote: post #54

maerF0x0 wrote: post #18

Back when this started I made the claim that the long term consequences of lock down would exceed the short term benefits . Depression, Drugs overdose, murder (despair), Suicide, extra sedentary issues leading to diabetese/CVD, loss of jobs/meaning et al. I havent seen anyone do the math of the uptick there to talk about the marginal benefit of lockdown or the fact that this, once again, is a form of biased benefit f…

I hear these sorts of sentiments from the USA a lot - where apparently people are actively rioting and protesting against the health lockdown. I'm from Australia - where while we've had some grumblings about the health measures, on the whole, we've been pretty lucky. Our death toll is 104 people - which even though (comparative) low is still a tragedy. Yet the USA death toll is over 130,000 people - that is a terribl…

The concern in the US is that attempts to stamp it out will fail. I hope for your sake that we're wrong, stamping it out just works, and Australia and New Zealand can survive virus free for the next year or so. But when I hear about another month of strict lockdowns in Melbourne, I get pretty worried.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#112

Post by dkdk8283 » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:05 AM UTC

mattigames wrote: post #99

dkdk8283 wrote: post #90

Despair deaths will be the true toll of this pandemic. I feel very sorry for everyone who is getting screwed by the extreme response to the virus.

The delay on the response in America is the real cause of the current situation including the despair involved, countries such as Japan or New Zealand that quickly took effective measures such as make everyone use face mask[0] or early closing of airports are pretty much back to normal already; America didn't close early, and more troublesome some people took being mask-less a political matter, others believe a consp…

We did delay but we have to double down: let things run it’s course.

Reversing now and keeping things closed will have far worse devastation in the long run

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#113

Post by g0rbongler » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:16 AM UTC

wmeredith wrote: post #89

lemonberry wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a recovering alcoholic I'm incredibly grateful to have built a toolkit to stay sober. Getting sober is a nightmare in the best of times. People in AA – which I haven't attended regularly for a few years – talk about being a "grateful alchoholic". It bothered when I heard that. I just wanted to have some bourbon and not put myself and others at risk. But over time I realized that they're grateful because getting so…

What’s in your “stay sober toolkit” if you don’t mind sharing?

I'm not op but here's a sampling of a toolkit that's worked well for me.

The 3 dimensions of sobriety are about BODY, MIND, and SPIRIT.

A) PHYSICAL SOBRIETY

1. Go to AA/12-step meetings daily. 90 meetings in 90 days is a great first start. It's easy, free, all you have to do is show up. Get a sponsor, work the steps. It's the largest community of people who all never wanted to be there either.

2. EXERCISE! Can't stress this enough. Nature's free & sober fountain of endorphins. Aim for 3x/week+. Invest in a trainer at the beginning to help with motivation. Probably one of my most valued practices, critical for my sobriety.

B) MENTAL SOBRIETY

1. Therapy - 12 step meetings / groups are great, but it really works well when combined with an individual therapist. You realize there are loops of thought in your mind that can fester into relapses, and finding out how to articulate these feelings to a professional allows you to snip them.

2. Work - Start slowly, don't jump back into a career that's too demanding or stressful, but I found it important to be intellectually stimulated and constructive with my time.

C) SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

1. Meditate! I strongly recommend Vipassana-style meditation. There are free, donation-based 10-day programs that are intense, but immersive.

2. Volunteer. Giving back to the community lightens your soul and spirit. Helping others helps you appreciate all the beauty in your own life.

Feel free to try any of the practices above or discover your own!

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#114

Post by Florin_Andrei » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:24 AM UTC

rohitb91 wrote: post #32

yingw787 wrote: post #8

I remember talking to a technically minded friend about my clinical depression, and I remember how she mentioned building an app to help solve it. I remember thinking at the time how sometimes building an app isn't the solution to a problem. Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest, most straightforward, and the least innovative ones: voting in policymakers who craft empathetic public policy, donating to charity…

That's a hilarious sort of tech delusion that people make fun of Surely a react app is the only thing in the way between global peace and happiness and harmony, let's just make a nice webpage and raise hundreds of millions of dollars for it :)

> That's a hilarious sort of tech delusion

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#115

Post by gdubs » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:32 AM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #83

maerF0x0 wrote: post #18

Back when this started I made the claim that the long term consequences of lock down would exceed the short term benefits . Depression, Drugs overdose, murder (despair), Suicide, extra sedentary issues leading to diabetese/CVD, loss of jobs/meaning et al. I havent seen anyone do the math of the uptick there to talk about the marginal benefit of lockdown or the fact that this, once again, is a form of biased benefit f…

WHO has predicted hundreds of millions of people will risk starvation this year due to the economic ramifications of lockdowns. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pandemic-could-mean-260-mi...

The lockdowns? The linked interview doesn’t mention lockdowns once — it talks about the effect of the pandemic.

They go even further to say that it’s not so much money that’s the concern right now — it’s the supply chain.

Critical, essential services aren’t being shutdown with lockdowns. They’re being shutdown because people are getting sick — like the food processing plants in the US, where people work in very close proximity to each other, indoors, all day long.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#116

Post by jnathsf » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:35 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #73

elchief wrote: post #52

For Vancouverites, you can get free take-home drug testing kits, here: http://www.vch.ca/public-health/harm-reduction/overdose-prev... There's not a whole lotta point, since everything has Fentanyl in it these days, except pot (probably) And free Naloxone (Narcan) kits at Shopper's Drug Mart, London Drugs, and other places: https://towardtheheart.com/site-finder They only ask your age and whether this is your first k…

It’s only a matter of time before hard drugs are legalized, similar to marijuana. It’ll probably take 20 years, but we will get there. I know Vancouver setup a legal opioid vending machine as a test run. Doctor checks you out, prescribes a legal opioid (hydromorphone in this case). You scan your badge and your dose pops out. No more stealing, prostituing, robbing, or other “hustle”. You just take your dose. Much lowe…

Another perspective is to look at traditional use of opiates in cultures before they were illegal. Raw opium has a much higher ratio of lethal dose to effective dose vs heroin. For example in parts of India elderly will take some opium with their chai to ease the discomforts of old age. While you may become addicted it’s unlikely you will overdose.

A big part of the potency of recreational drugs is due to its illegality forcing suppliers to pack as much of a punch in the smallest package. Another contributing factor is Western culture - you don’t see a huge demand for low potency cannabis. People like their drugs strong.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#117

Post by SpicyLemonZest » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:35 AM UTC

delecti wrote: post #107

Darmody wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's not forget the massive protests. No matter if you agree with them or not. Thousands of people together on the streets with no security distance between them makes things worse.

The data shows that it hasn't in fact been making things worse. The protestors are largely all wearing masks, and that makes a pretty enormous difference.

Which data are you referring to? Last I heard, there wasn't really data available, since contact tracers aren't asking people whether they went to the protests.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#118

Post by SpicyLemonZest » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:36 AM UTC

modriano wrote: post #61

drtillberg wrote: post #3

I'm cynical enough at this point to wonder whether the states will add these terrible losses to the COVID-19-related statistics to advocate for stricter and longer lock-downs.

We haven't had real lockdowns anywhere. We've had please-stay-home recommendations. If we had a sufficiently strict lockdown early on, we could have brought transmission down to near 0, identified all new cases (and quarantined them away from the healthy population), set up strict testing at every border/airport, and been basically back to normal in 2 months, like China was. These deaths of despair are just another c…

China isn't any more back to normal than the US is, despite the relative absence of the virus there.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#119

Post by lalos » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:39 AM UTC

eezurr wrote: post #37

lalos wrote: post #2

Well, right before the pandemic hit it was being reported that deaths of despair were up ticking so I doubt that trend has change with more pressure in the system. March 23: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/23/why-americans-...

First thing when you open the article: >Suspected overdoses nationally jumped 18 percent in March, 29 percent in April and 42 percent in May, data from ambulance teams, hospitals and police shows.

Keyword to notice on my comment: "reported"

I was stating a fact that all this was already being reported on before quarantine and added a link with a date for more context. The lion thinks everyone is like him.

Re: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic

#120

Post by s1artibartfast » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:49 AM UTC

nxc18 wrote: post #50

starkd wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lockdowns in China were indeed brutal, and involved a use of force that simply would not be acceptable in the U.S. But even there, there's evidence it was much more severe than the officials let on, and there was a rebound after reopening. They are very secretive about it though.

It doesn’t have to be China-style brutal. It can also be strict and effective, like what was done in much of Europe. With a competent western-style government you can have great results. See New Zealand. What matters is not how authoritarian the country is, but how seriously the lockdown is taken.

I’m not sure that the auS population would tolerate the European model either. The police and Amy were posted in the street and checked every persons ID, place of residence, travel papers on sight.