The coronavirus pandemic took a major toll on the mental health of Americans, especially those struggling with substance use disorder (SUD), leading to an increase in fatal overdoes.
According to the latest data from the CDC, drug overdose deaths increased by 29.6% for the 12-month period ending December 2020. While each state varied in the number of fatalities, only two states saw a decrease in deaths: South Dakota and New Hampshire.
Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), noted that it’s the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period and the largest increase since at least 1999.
“These data are chilling,” Volkow told Yahoo Finance. “The COVID-19 pandemic created a devastating collision of health crises in America.”
Opioids were the leading cause of drug overdose deaths. In the 12-month period ending in December 2020, 68,821 individuals died as a result of the drug.
Synthetic opioids were also a main driver, accounting for 56,688 deaths in that same period. These include drugs like fentanyl, a drug that’s 50 times stronger than heroin.
“These numbers are absolutely heartbreaking — each of these people was a beloved family member, friend, and neighbor,” Sheila Vakharia, deputy director at the Drug Policy Alliance, told Yahoo Finance. “And each of their lives mattered and was worth saving, yet our policies continue to fail people like them every day. Their deaths were preventable.”
A year of despair
Since the pandemic went into full force back in March 2020, it’s become increasingly clear how much of an emotional toll that it had on Americans.
The forced isolation and social distancing, record job losses, and millions of cases created a mental health crisis unlike ever seen before.
“This has been an incredibly uncertain and stressful time for many people, and we are seeing an increase in drug consumption, difficulty in accessing life-saving treatments for substance use disorders, and a tragic rise in overdose deaths,” Volkow said.
Though the number of cases has drastically decreased compared to last year thanks to the widespread distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, there was still a significant amount of damage done in that time.
An October 2020 survey from TransUnion Healthcare found nearly six in 10 patients had deferred non-coronavirus-related medical care, which included mental health care and addiction treatment, over the previous six months.
And a CDC survey from June 2020 found that 40.9% of Americans reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, with 13.3% of respondents having started or increased substance use to cope with stress or emotions related to COVID-19.