Combatting addiction and aiding addiction recovery are challenging endeavors at best. The Surgeon General reports that just 1 in 10 people with a substance abuse disorder finds the treatment they need, and for those who do, face-to-face interaction offers the most promising potential benefit. The coronavirus pandemic has short-circuited this dynamic. It’s added stress, isolation, and economic upheaval — all known triggers for addiction and relapse — while robbing many people of treatment options and support systems. But there’s also positive news for addiction recovery in the form of more easily accessible telemedicine, which has gained traction from recent federal legislation. Here’s a quick overview of how a year of COVID-19 quarantine has affected addiction recovery nationally, in certain states, and particularly in Nevada.
When epidemics collide
The coronavirus pandemic has overshadowed just about every other health crisis. But another epidemic hasn’t gone away — the opioid epidemic. As the virus continued to spread during 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services took action to limit face-to-face contact at treatment centers. As a result, many treatment programs ended up having to close. Even before the COVID-19pandemic, drug overdose deaths were rising. By April 2020, more than 76,000 people had died from an overdose during the 12-month period beginning in April 2019.
In addition to cash-strapped health care systems having to close, supply chains for pharmaceuticals were disrupted during the pandemic. Two of the three federally approved medications for opioid addiction, methadone and buprenorphine, are among the most regulated drugs in the country. Methadone is administered only at specialized clinics, requiring patients to visit the clinic as often as daily to obtain it, and requiring them to earn the privilege over time to take doses home. Buprenorphine can be prescribed by a doctor and picked up at a pharmacy; however, it requires the prescriber to go through a special certification, and the patient to participate in an in-person medical evaluation. All this has been more difficult during COVID-19.
A key part of recovery is developing and maintaining supportive relationships. The pandemic has made both those goals especially challenging, and many in recovery have struggled in quarantine. The result? Too many people simply stopped seeking treatment.
Experts also say some users have turned to unknown suppliers and have received counterfeit drugs that look like prescription pills but contain fentanyl, or with stimulants laced with fentanyl. The isolation of these users has kept them from their social support networks, and has led to further substance abuse and more overdoses presenting to emergency rooms.
The view from certain states
The Associated Press reviewed preliminary overdose death statistics from nine states — Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington. In Connecticut, preliminary overdose death counts were up more than 19% through the end of July 2020, compared with the same time frame the previous year. They were up 9% percent in Washington through the end of August, 28% in Colorado, and 30% in Kentucky during that same period. Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show a 28.8% increase nationally for overdose fatalities for the 12-month period ending in September 2020, and a 9.4% increase for the 12-month period ending in September 2020 for the state of Nevada.
Recently Nevada was placed on “red alert” for risk of drug overdose, according to the National Drug Helpline. The Nevada State Opioid Response Project reveals that drug-related emergency room visits increased throughout the state, and that Washoe County had its highest number of drug-related emergency room visits in July 2020.
The CDC also reports that Nevada ranks second highest in the country for reported symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Treating addiction in a time of social distancing
In-person treatment and social distancing don’t mix. One response to dealing with this apparent paradox is that treatment centers across the country have switched from 100% face-to-face visits to a high majority of visits conducted via telemedicine. Before the pandemic, treatment was tightly regulated because opioid addiction is treated with medications that are actually long-acting opioids. During the pandemic, clinicians have been given greater latitude to make decisions that make the medications more available to address clinical needs. But these medications must still be monitored effectively.
Experts and advocates say telemedicine is making treatment easier and more accessible. It’s also reducing stigma by letting people build a relationship over time that helps them feel more comfortable coming to in-person treatment sessions. . As the public health emergency of the pandemic begins to lessen somewhat with more people getting vaccinated, the special measures enacted during the pandemic are winding down as well. Access to treatment via telemedicine might not last forever. The TREAT Act is a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would make permanent greater accessibility of care through telemedicine. But the legislation is still pending and hasn’t yet been enacted permanently.
Seeking treatment locally or out of state?
There’s one more very important thing to think about if you or a family member is considering seeking addiction therapy: Where is the best place to go for this treatment?Many professionals recommend that a person seeking treatment should consider going out of state. There’s a beneficial psychological and therapeutic component, they say, to doing so. Leaving bad influences and emotional triggers behind is a definite positive. When the treatment center is hundreds of miles from home, the chance of the person leaving the center against medical advice is perhaps lessened. It is, of course, vital to remember that some treatment centers are better staffed to handle certain treatment protocols than others, and that detoxification procedures, accreditation, insurance, clientele demographics, average length of stay, and other factors must be considered carefully.
The Raleigh House in Watkins, CO
For anyone hoping to get back on track with recovery following the COVID-19 , The Raleigh House facilitates a wide collection of treatment and rehabilitation programs, including hospital inpatient treatment, inpatient drug rehab, outpatient treatment and more. This recent Raleigh House blog post explains what you can expect. We offer help and hope to everyone in the region, and we encourage you to reach out to us by calling XXX-XXX-XXXX or through the contact form on our website.
