"Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said."...I'll go with the experts on this one....
When I see "merge" recognized as an expert on pandemics and trailing diseases, I will certainly defer; but until then.....I'll stick to news sources from a recognized non-bias media outlet.
lol...I speak to experts everyday that work in hospitals in the region. They are getting paid to do that research and take actions. This article supports those experts (with their own experts). I posted an article that provided data on the increase in childhood obesity during COVID (another consequence that those same experts were sharing over a year ago). Finally, some of this damage will take years to calculate because it's the long term effect of extended isolation. I'm happy to put a 5 and 10 year tickler in my file to pull the retrospective study, but the early signs support my (and the experts) view.
Interesting that you choose to just post data on one state. The article I posted pointed to a steep increase last year nationally. Obviously a better sampling. And as I said earlier, these are consequences that will play themselves out more in the long term Even though the early returns don’t look good. But you continue to ignore that.
Federal guidelines were focused on isolation and shutdowns; states had different timelines of impact and instituting local actions. I’m just saying that there are a lot of long term health issues (drug overdoses and obesity just being two), that are already playing out in the short term. There are others (suicide and cardiac disease) that are also expected to rise dramatically. Every health expert I’ve talked to recognizes this and is preparing for continued rapid increas
You are free to have that opinion, but like I said... if it were true that isolation was to blame here, it would show up in states with more restrictions.
Numbers and experts thus far say you’re wrong and as I’ve said multiple times, it has to be measured over the long term.
Time will tell. The article and experts I have spoken with don’t believe that it’s been the major contributor.
California has one of the largest increases. I don’t see a political party angle to this at all. No data to support that either.
the angle is based on their quarantine/lockdown restrictions where red states clearly trend on the light side of it.
I don’t think you can draw conclusions at that granular level. Overall, as a country we had messaging that supported isolation with each state nuancing it. As I’ve said all along, there are and will be consequences from that strategy that also need to be weighed when we look at the entire toll of the pandemic. The early data is supporting what I am suggesting, but it will take time to see the full effect as some of these issues manifest over time.
But they are not identified as a state with a large increase.
if 2021 is worse then how can it be blamed on isolation. there is no isolation anymore.
Because mental health issues as a result of isolation take months and years to manifest themselves. Prescription drug use to treat depression is also up significantly. Some of those patients recover and some of them don’t. It’s a leading indicator.
I was referring to the article
Y
I'll keep repeating myself so you hopefully will comprehend it at some point. The data and my conversations with health experts (not message board posters), provides the basis for my opinions.
No, I refer to experts, because they are dealing with this issue every day and I respect their opinions. There are no flaws in my "theory" and I don't need to go ask them to satisfy you. I've posted two articles that point to the dramatic increase in overdose deaths and childhood obesity...real data; and have supported it with opinions of experts when I've asked as to the why. If you don't like it, that's your opinion.
i think the point is that their is no proof that isolation caused the increase in opioid deaths that was clearly already happening.
No, opioid deaths increased 29% in 2020 and are expected to increase by a greater margin this year. Look at the trend for the last five years:
