James Ketler
\nMises Institute<\/p>\n
![\"isolation\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.mises.org\/styles\/slideshow\/s3\/static-page\/img\/isolate1.png?itok=h9F6nQNG\")
Although state lockdowns have served governors well as a heavy-handed show of force, the policies are a\u00a0patent\u00a0neglect of the many nuances inherent in human action. They have led to a host of unintended consequences, including the emergence of a new health crisis\u2014a dangerously sharp rise in mental illness. Though states are gradually wading out of lockdown, the damage has already been done and is here to stay.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0science is clear<\/a>\u00a0that having meaningful human interactions is an inherent, biological need that all people share. But in the name of “public health,” people are prohibited from freely and peaceably congregating. There\u2019s no church, no “nonessential” shopping, no going into work (for many), no girls\u2019 nights out, no going to the gym, no visiting friends, no family get-togethers. Nothing. No sacrifice can be too great in the age of COVID per the \u201cexperts.\u201d\u00a0And that’s taken a harsh psychological toll on the nation.<\/p>\n Extensive study has, for years,\u00a0correlated<\/a>\u00a0social isolation with poor mental health. The need for connection is as real now as it\u2019s ever been. Since the US had already long suffered from a loneliness crisis, the stark and sudden crop up of stay-at-home orders made this immediately much worse. As Drs. Betty Pfefferbaum and Carol North\u00a0found<\/a>,<\/p>\n A recent review of psychological sequelae in samples of quarantined people and of health care providers\u2026revealed numerous emotional outcomes, including stress, depression, irritability, insomnia, fear, confusion, anger, frustration, boredom, and stigma associated with quarantine, some of which persisted after the quarantine was lifted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Being whisked from normal life into the repressive conditions of lockdowns is understandably damaging. The anguish people are feeling is at astronomical levels. Schoolchilden recently\u00a0surveyed<\/a>\u00a0in Wuhan and Huangshi during stay-at-home orders reported symptoms of depression and anxiety at a rate far higher than normal.<\/p>\n The same seems to be holding true for the general US population. The Crisis Text Line\u2014a free service providing crisis counseling over SMS\u2014has\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0a 40 percent increase in recent volume, averaging over 100,000 text conversations each month. In a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)\u00a0poll<\/a>\u00a0from the end of March, 47 percent\u00a0of respondents under stay-at-home orders reported that COVID-related stress had negatively impacted their mental health, compared to 37 percent\u00a0of respondents not facing such orders. Twenty-one percent\u00a0of stay-at-homers described that impact as “major,” compared to 13 percent those not locked down. Statistically speaking, that\u2019s quite a significant gap, especially when scaled to a population of 330 million. Though there has been no reliable polling data since then, it\u2019s easy to imagine how much worse the situation has become as the weeks have worn on.<\/p>\n Combine that with the financial aspect of the lockdowns, and there\u2019s a recipe for absolute disaster. Under mandatory closure, an untold number of “nonessential” businesses\u2014particularly small businesses\u2014have gone insolvent or are on the brink thereof. \u00a0That\u2019s led to\u00a0tens of millions<\/a>\u00a0of new jobless claims in just the past two months\u2014amounting to the\u00a0worst employment crisis<\/a>\u00a0in American history.<\/p>\n A vast literature connects economic downturns to a number of\u00a0psychological issues<\/a>, including anxiety, stress, and depression, which often spur on various high-risk behaviors. Although recessions are inherently stressful, mental health challenges usually emerge within the personal context of income and employment insecurity. With the economy in free fall, many millions of Americans have become worried about their ability to continue paying bills and putting food on the table going forward. The psychological impact that recessions have is capable of\u00a0lasting for years<\/a>, even after economic difficulties themselves have disappeared. With entire states having been locked down for weeks and months on end, public activity is only reemerging under the scourge of intense mental disturbance.<\/p>\n Although everyone is potentially at risk of developing symptoms of mental illness, those already struggling may be the most vulnerable. One user in a depression support group on Reddit recently\u00a0posted<\/a>, \u201cI am going absolutely insane battling with my mind and being locked up in my house.\u201d Another\u00a0said<\/a>, \u201cLockdown is making my depression the worst it\u2019s ever been\u2026.I’d rather be dead than stuck in my house alone with my thoughts.\u201d\u00a0Rock-bottom feelings such as these\u00a0are very often accompanied by a number of different maladaptive coping strategies, among them nonfatal self-harm.<\/p>\n For individuals already overloaded with anxiety and desperation, economic hardship is often the \u201cfinal straw<\/a>\u201d leading to self-harm behaviors. An\u00a0Irish study<\/a>\u00a0found the self-harm rate to have increased across the population following the Great Recession, with men between the ages of 25 and 44 impacted the most. Although this is far outside the\u00a0usual age and sex demographic<\/a>\u00a0for self-harm, it may be explained by the heightened that stress working-aged men felt in their roles as primary breadwinners. A\u00a0study in Britain<\/a>\u00a0after the crash also noted a spike in self-harm, associated particularly with areas seeing greater amounts of job loss. In an economy with people out of work more than ever before, that\u2019s of considerable alarm.<\/p>\n Even without financial trouble, many\u00a0may<\/a>\u00a0turn to hitting and cutting themselves just out of sheer loneliness. With face-to-face interaction hard to come by, there are few support systems for people to rely on. Despite serving a vital role in many capacities,\u00a0Zoom calls<\/a>\u00a0clearly aren\u2019t a cure for people\u2019s woes, usually leaving users more exhausted than connected.<\/p>\n And although many health providers are providing patients with over-the-phone coverage, that sort of help may be much less effective for self-harmers. A\u00a02013 Taiwanese study<\/a>\u00a0on the etiology of self-harm reasoned that \u201cthe structural conditions and quantity of support\u201d may help alleviate the urge to self-harm more than \u201cthe quality of support received through specific networks.\u201d Sheltered away from friends, many sufferers are left feeling that there is no escape, and telehealth services can do little to change that.<\/p>\n In all the lockdown mess, many have even reached the brink of suicide. The 2003 SARS outbreak led to an\u00a0significant uptick<\/a>\u00a0in the suicide rate in Hong Kong\u2014up to 18.6 suicides per 100,000 residents. The elderly population there was hit the worst, likely as a consequence of increased social isolation. Now, with community activities interrupted, many have become isolated from the gatherings that give their lives\u00a0meaning\u2014such as church, whose regular attendees face a suicide rate of\u00a0one-fifth<\/a>\u00a0that of the rest of the population. \u201cLiving\u201d means more than mere biological life\u2014it involves a complex array of relationships, activities, and goals. But under lockdown, the world has been sapped of any semblance of true living.<\/p>\n Financial struggles are another\u00a0common theme<\/a>\u00a0in suicide etiology. During the Great Recession, suicides spiked across the globe. Across just the US, the European Union, and Canada, research revealed more than ten thousand suicides\u00a0connected<\/a>\u00a0to the downturn\u2014again, particularly among men. Some fear that worse numbers could arise from the current economic crisis.<\/p>\n The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute recently\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0that for every percentage point that the unemployment rate rises, the overall suicide rate rises 1.6 percent. Considering that last month\u00a0the real unemployment rate rose to\u00a022.8 percent<\/a>\u00a0(and possibly even higher), the US probably had\u00a0nearly one thousand<\/a>\u00a0additional suicides in April stemming just from the economic shutdown. As job loss continues this month, more people are bound to take their lives\u2014not to mention the untold effect that social isolation is having. Although national data isn\u2019t yet available, many local suicide prevention centers have been\u00a0reporting<\/a>\u00a0significant increases in hotline usage\u2014around 20\u201330 percent\u00a0on most days and as high as 100 percent\u00a0on others.<\/p>\n To manage lockdown stress, many have found themselves self-medicating and kicking back on old habits, which is exactly what prior research suggests. When the economy falls, the use of\u00a0alcohol<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0other drugs<\/a>\u00a0tends to spike\u2014especially among those who lose their jobs. Along with many financial stressors, spending more time at home intensifies the propensity for use, which stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines have only helped worsen.<\/p>\n People also seek out many addictive substances to find\u00a0relief<\/a>\u00a0from social disconnection\u2014which the brain can interpret as physical pain. That\u2019s why it\u2019s no surprise that the lockdowns have helped spell doom for those already suffering with addiction. Alone, it\u2019s more difficult to resist relapse and misuse.<\/p>\n For the\u00a0week ending April 25<\/a>, year-over-year total off-trade alcohol sales were up 26.4 percent, down from a high of\u00a055 percent<\/a>\u00a0in March when the lockdowns began. Online sales have exploded\u2014recently growing in excess of 500 percent. But that\u2019s not all because of people stocking up. The data has shown that\u00a0more people<\/a>\u00a0have been\u00a0buying more alcohol<\/a>, of a\u00a0higher proof<\/a>\u00a0and at a more frequent pace. That means that both consumption\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0sales have faced a significant uptick. Even as the rate of sales growth has slowly decreased in mid-April, year-over-year increases have remained quite high.<\/p>\n Alcoholics Anonymous and other nonemergency addiction resources have not been deemed \u201cessential,\u201d leaving those recovering to find help online or over the phone. Activity on internet support groups has\u00a0shot through the roof<\/a>, as have calls to addiction helplines. Many former addicts have fallen into relapse after years of sobriety, sending them back into the mire of struggles that they long thought they\u2019d escaped.<\/p>\n Hard drug use is also on the rise\u2014which is frightening, as the opioid crisis had already been wreaking havoc across the country. Call volume at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Hotline was\u00a0five times higher<\/a>\u00a0at the end of March than it had been at the beginning of the month, and\u00a0harm reduction centers<\/a>\u00a0are operating at limited capacity. That\u2019s left addicts with little recourse besides continued use.<\/p>\n Research indicates that even in periods of decreased income,\u00a0drug use<\/a>\u00a0remains constant. Throughout the present crisis, addicts have remained addicts and still need their fix, despite recent\u00a0disruptions<\/a>\u00a0in the meth and heroin supply chains. To avoid withdrawal symptoms, many switch to different substances, dealers, and means of ingestion\u2014making use more imprecise and risky. There\u2019s also the fear that addicts who have\u00a0stockpiled substances<\/a>\u00a0are using them at a quicker pace. As with suicides, national data has yet to emerge, but some municipal and county offices have already\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0a substantial jump in overdoses since the lockdown began. Although lockdowns are temporary, their effects can be irreversible.<\/p>\n Other addictive behaviors also seem to be on the rise. Tobacco sales, for one, have absolutely boomed. Industry giant Altria\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that in Q1 (quarter 1), shipments of its smokeable tobacco products rose 6.2 percent\u00a0and oral tobacco shipments rose 2.8 percent. Although it’s unclear how much of that is due to\u00a0people stocking up, both\u00a0convenience stores<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0online sellers<\/a>\u00a0have recently noticed a significant uptick in demand as well. And an increase in use would follow the same pattern as what happened during the Great Recession.<\/p>\n Stressed and stuck at home, people have also ramped up their porn consumption. Since the lockdowns began,\u00a0PornHub traffic<\/a>\u00a0has consistently been above average\u2014with a high of 23.2 percent at the end of March, when the company offered all users free premium access. When used frequently, porn can rope users into a powerfully addictive cycle, engendering\u00a0psychosexual difficulties<\/a>\u00a0such as low libido, sexual dissatisfaction, and erectile dysfunction\u2014even in young men.<\/p>\n Online, many have also begun to try their luck at gambling. Global Poker\u2014a popular online poker room\u2014saw a\u00a043 percent\u00a0spike<\/a>\u00a0in use following lockdown orders, with a remarkable 255 percent increase in first-time players. Much of that may be new traffic from gamblers who had frequented brick-and-mortar casinos\u2014a mere shifting of activity from one channel to another. But it comes at a cost: online gambling is associated with a number of\u00a0increased risks<\/a>\u00a0for becoming addicted. The fallout from that could take decades to move past.<\/p>\n The politicians and medical experts basking in the COVID spotlight have traded the fa\u00e7ade of an effective public health response for the hidden realities of mental illness. As talking heads repeatedly prattled the \u201cflatten the curve\u201d mantra, the curves for stress, suicide, and addiction all steepened. A\u00a0study by the Well Being Trust<\/a>\u00a0concluded that \u201cdeaths of despair\u201d\u2014which include all suicide and substance-related fatalities resulting from fear, unemployment, and isolation\u2014may total seventy-five thousand by the end of the COVID crisis. Their death knells rang out the moment governors committed their states to shutting down.<\/p>\n And among those who live, the residual psychological and behavioral effects will remain long after the lockdowns are over\u2014possibly for the rest of their lives. Indeed, by overstepping individual judgment, the government imposed a one-size-fits-none solution so debilitating and unprecedented that the country will never truly recover. In the long run\u2014aside from the blips and bumps of infection and disease\u2014the state remains the true risk to the health of the nation.<\/p>\nSelf-Harm and Suicide<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Substance Abuse and Addiction<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n