Listen – These are trying times for everyone. COVID-19 has taken away a lot of our freedoms as of late and we are slowly adjusting to a new way of living while the medical world goes to war with a virus to find a solution for all of us. Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug worldwide. It will continue to be number one and alcohol abuse will increase even more during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol contributes to 3 million deaths every year representing 5.3% of all deaths worldwide. One thing I do know wholeheartedly is that now is not the time to increase your drinking.
Having gone on my family’s ten-thousandth walk during our COVID-19 quarantine, the journey inevitably involves dodging walkers, joggers, bikers and kids at a 6-foot distance, simply to adhere and respect the rules of social distancing and our current reality in Toronto. We also usually encounter our neighbourhood friends. Often conversations end with someone saying to me, “Scott I’m going to have to book a alcohol abuse session with you once this is all over.”
What they are referring to (half- joking, I’m hoping) is that alcohol is an absolute requirement to get through this whole situation – working from home while looking after kids, conflicts with partners due to financial stress and constant proximity, feelings of fear, uncertainty, boredom, frustration, and everything in between.
On yesterday’s walk through our Leaside neighbourhood in Toronto, we were told:
- A local brewery delivers to your porch for free if you spend over $50 dollars
- The LCBO has our credit card on file, and we order large supplies online
- Saturday nights I hang out with Johnny Walker, Sundays are spent with Bacardi, Mondays are for Molson
- I’m happy with drinking every day except one day, and that one day of abstinence is next to impossible!
I have a chuckle with myself hearing these statements. On the one hand, I am happy to hear the great advice on how to practice the safest way possible to purchase alcohol in these unprecedented times in Toronto and I also understand why people are turning to the drink – on the other, it really hits home our dependence on alcohol which is currently happening right now and only increasing.
I am in a Dads WhatsApp chat from my child’s school and there is the usual dad humour banter, current statistics of COVID-19, good advice on the local Leaside small businesses and how we can support, and a ton of “funny” photos of their alcoholic beverages and memes relating to drinking.
This kind of drinking is contributing to our sense of having no control in a world that is already terrifying and confusing with COVID-19. This way of drinking is not beneficial right now and only paying small short-term dividends right now and here is why:
LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY AT WORK AND HOME
Consuming too much alcohol the night before and having to wake up and painfully walk your way to your office computer to look at the screen all day while taking care of and occupying your kids with a hangover is next to near impossible. The bosses will take notice. Productivity is expected to dip, but it doesn’t have to take a nosedive with a hangover.
Homeschooling a whining child/teenager will also be next to impossible with hangover. Need I say more about this one?
CONFLICT
Fear leads us to do some silly things. The reptilian brain is telling us to fight, flight, or freeze. It is runs even more amok with constant drinking. These are scary and difficult times.
Conflict with your husband, wife, kids, the people outside not practicing social distancing, the runner that spits on the ground, the woman who puts her dogs S#!t not in, but ON top of your neighbors garbage right in front of you, the customers not following the arrows traversing Loblaws, the list goes on and on. Some days I feel like I can explode, but where do we put that anger? Typically, in isolation we channel that pent-up anger onto our loved ones. They become the proverbial punching bags. Exponentially more so when you’re recovering from a night of drinking and/or detoxing until your next drink.
INCREASING DEPENDENCE UPON ALCOHOL
The pandemic, social distancing, isolating and quarantining are not a valid reason to develop a physical dependence to alcohol. We will return to our typical lives and COVID-19 will escape us. How are you to return to work when the pandemic is behind us and you’ve developed such a profound dependence to alcohol? Similar to your car depending/needing gas to fuel the engine and move us around that is how we view the physical dependence in our bodies toward alcohol.
NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF ALCOHOL ABUSE ON THE BODY
Alcohol wreaks havoc on literally every human organ system:
- Neurological: Loss of balance, damage to nerves, loss of supportive tissue in the brain resulting in decreased attention span, problem solving, planning, concentration, and short-term memory.
- Bones: hinders with bone formation, reduced bone mass, interferes with absorption of calcium contributing to osteoporosis.
- Muscles: Alcohol disrupts the body’s mineral balance which produces inflammation of the muscles, swelling, tenderness and weakness and alcohol is linked to degenerating muscle fibres.
- Liver: Cirrhosis of the liver, which is the scarring of the liver due to the death of live cells. Alcoholic hepatitis.
- Stomach: Corrosion of the stomach wall (ulcer irritation), Gastritis, and esophagitis
- Blood: Ease of bleeding or bruising
- Pancreas: Pancreatitis
- Heart: Hypertension, increased risk of stroke, increased cholesterol levels, arrhythmias
- Endocrine System: Decrease in male testosterone levels, impotence and decreased sperm production leading to infertility.
- Lungs: interference with immunity system leading to higher incidence of pneumonia or tuberculosis
Again, this is the time not to further your dependence upon alcohol. Alcohol does not discriminate- it loves everyone who will pick it up! Being “stuck” at home is not the time to pick up and/or increase your drinking. The consequence of use is too far increased during these times if you already have an alcohol misuse problem. Now is the time to plug into and connect with your loved ones, family, and friends and to think about how we can play a part in helping end this pandemic. There are a lot of beautiful and joyful things coming out of these times of darkness. The stillness in this time is also a time for healing reflection, reconciling with the past, your unfinished business so-to-speak. This can be known as The Great Pause. We have been given this reprieve from our busy lives, which can allow for deeper, meaningful connections not just with our immediate families, but with the world as we know it, our collective humanity. There is so much beauty to be found in humanity right now. Overdrinking and its’ consequences- conflicts with your partner, your kids, and disconnecting from the here and now robs you of this time that although scary, can be beautiful.
It is my optimistic and hopeful thinking that it would be possible that we would be able to shut-down the LCBO and Beer Stores and view them as non-essential services during this pandemic to keep the millions of patrons out of them to help prevent further spread. Sadly it is not the case and although hypocritical of me to say so, I am happy that the LCBO remains open to give the front line workers more time and beds to help those suffering from COVID-19 and not having to treat the thousands of individuals that would otherwise suffer from alcohol withdrawal.
If you are struggling in these difficult and uncertain times with your alcohol use, substance use and/or any other mental health concern, please reach out for help. Together, we can get through this and find a healthy solution that is lasting. I am here to help you 24/7, whether you’re in Toronto, the Territories, or anywhere else in the world. Please continue to stay safe and make healthy choices!
I can be reached via email and/or telephone
T: 416.797.2030
E: [email protected]
