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Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

nytimes.com

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Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#31

Post by dazc »

Epiphany21 wrote: post #5

Recently (within the last two years) I had to help someone suffering with alcoholism/DTS and I was horrified by the abysmal outpatient support the medical system here provides. If he didn't have health insurance and a ride I would not have been able to convince him to go, and he could have died. It's very hard to argue with his contempt for hospitals and doctors when all they do is give you an overpriced potassium IV…

I have a friend in the UK, similar situation. After years of receiving no help I took it upon myself to figure out what was causing his self-sabotaging behaviour. I can't say I made any great discoveries other than figuring out his trigger points and devising strategies to avoid them.

Obviously everyone is going to be different but my friend's issues stem from being lonely and isolated a lot of the time. Simply me being around for a couple of days a week has helped. He still drinks but in a much more controlled manner and, ironically, I found that ensuring he always has a supply at home has helped with this too. It's taken away the constant panic in his mind - for want of a better explanation.

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#32

Post by ejb999 »

dazc wrote: post #23
ejb999 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>then push you out the door and tell you to find an AA group. What is it exactly you want the hospital to do if your friend won't stop drinking?

Maybe there is something more going on than some person making a conscious decision to keep drinking? I'm not sure what the hospital should do in this exact situation but simply 'pushing someone out of the door' is very likely to have one result and this is the same person coming back through the same door time and time again.

so you don't have any idea what 'they' should do, but clearly it's the hospitals fault.

Maybe the 'they' that should do something is you?, but I guess it's actually easier to blame 'them', because 'they' should do something.

Even AA doesn't want people that won't admit they have a problem. because 'they' can't do anything for them either. The problem lies with the drinker, if they don't want to stop, they have nobody to blame but themselves.

How do you fix a problem that the patient won't admit they have?

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#33

Post by dazc »

ejb999 wrote: post #32
dazc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe there is something more going on than some person making a conscious decision to keep drinking? I'm not sure what the hospital should do in this exact situation but simply 'pushing someone out of the door' is very likely to have one result and this is the same person coming back through the same door time and time again.

so you don't have any idea what 'they' should do, but clearly it's the hospitals fault. Maybe the 'they' that should do something is you?, but I guess it's actually easier to blame 'them', because 'they' should do something. Even AA doesn't want people that won't admit they have a problem. because 'they' can't do anything for them either. The problem lies with the drinker, if they don't want to stop, they have nobody…

What I was trying to say that it would be in the hospital's interest to offer a better solution since it will be that very same hospital that this guy will inevitably return to.

I guess you are in the camp that thinks everyone can help themselves? All I would say to this is that there's lots of evidence around you that proves this idea is wrong.

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#34

Post by lbj »

raverbashing wrote: post #8
lbj wrote: post #6

Quoted post unavailable.

From the article, number of alcohol deaths > rising to 99,017 in 2020, up from 78,927 the previous year Covid deaths in the US: 300k in 2020 Looks like another misrepresentation by the "covid skeptics"

Try calculating "Dead with water" and tell me how dangerous you think water is. Looksl ike another misrepresentation by the "covid fanatics"

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#35

Post by thesaintlives »

stef25 wrote: post #26

Right before the first lockdown I started a new high stress job and for several months our two toddlers weren't allowed to attend school. During the first few weeks we tried to make it "fun", I'd start working around 4-5AM , alternating morning and evening shifts of work / toddlers with my partner. Then colleagues started complaining "wtf this guy's playing with his kids in the park at 2PM" and I got really bad feedb…

Dude that sounds horrible. I feel you. Keep up the fight and try to concentrate on what is really important, you and your family. I had one wife and two dogs, now I don't. The 'pandemic' most certainly accelerated that outcome. Stay positive!

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#36

Post by darthrupert »

I'm more and more convinced that people who don't have kids should have double the tax burden compared to parents, at least for the first 5-10 years.

The stress is unimaginable, and then some people have the gall to complain when parents try to do it well. Appalling behaviour. I would not tolerate such complaints as a manager, but thankfully I have never met such attitude in my life.

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#38

Post by DigitalSea »

stef25 wrote: post #26

Right before the first lockdown I started a new high stress job and for several months our two toddlers weren't allowed to attend school. During the first few weeks we tried to make it "fun", I'd start working around 4-5AM , alternating morning and evening shifts of work / toddlers with my partner. Then colleagues started complaining "wtf this guy's playing with his kids in the park at 2PM" and I got really bad feedb…

I am so sorry. When we talk about collateral damage from the pandemic, nobody thinks of the parents who had their kids home for months. In Australia, the lockdowns were quite severe. My wife and I were aware that while we were suffering, our kids were too. Their lives were completely turned upside down. Sadly, kids lack the needed brain capacity to deal with emotions and serious changes in routine, so it compounds the stress.

To top it all off, for us, we were renovating and being without a working kitchen, bathroom, toilet for months and weeks on end, it compounded things for us. I don't know how we survived or how others did. We live in an era where we are afforded the ability to have flexible working hours, starting early and finishing early. Or chopping/changing hours and days. Your colleagues were wrong to criticise you, the metric of performance should never be measured based on hours working, but the output and quality of your work.

I once worked at a place where someone was fired because his number of commits was lower than the other developers. He was a brilliant developer and always got his work done. But apparently his commits were too small (he liked to lump a lot of things into commits, instead of several smaller ones).

Did you end up finding another job?

Re: Alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, a study shows

#40

Post by stef25 »

DigitalSea wrote: post #38
stef25 wrote: post #26

Right before the first lockdown I started a new high stress job and for several months our two toddlers weren't allowed to attend school. During the first few weeks we tried to make it "fun", I'd start working around 4-5AM , alternating morning and evening shifts of work / toddlers with my partner. Then colleagues started complaining "wtf this guy's playing with his kids in the park at 2PM" and I got really bad feedb…

I am so sorry. When we talk about collateral damage from the pandemic, nobody thinks of the parents who had their kids home for months. In Australia, the lockdowns were quite severe. My wife and I were aware that while we were suffering, our kids were too. Their lives were completely turned upside down. Sadly, kids lack the needed brain capacity to deal with emotions and serious changes in routine, so it compounds th…

Thanks :) In all fairness, while the colleagues were assholes I was out of my depth at the job and there was no support so getting fired was the right solution. Money was never really an issue and I did start an awesome new job 2 months ago. And the kids are thriving.

The only thing that would have made those 2 years worse is renovations! We've gone through 2 of those, luckily before the pandemic. So I very much feel your pain and hope it's all working out for you now.

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