alcohol
A Better Way to Talk About Problems with Alcohol Misuse
Posted on by George F. Koob, Ph.D., National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Did you know that language commonly used to describe alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) can influence treatment outcomes in people suffering from alcohol problems? Yes, that can often be the case. In fact, the stigma perpetuated by such language can decrease a person’s motivation to seek help for an alcohol problem.
The stigma also can affect one’s self-esteem, as well as how they are perceived by others. And, sadly, AUD is still often viewed as a moral failing or character flaw, rather than a chronic medical disorder from which people can—and do—recover. Less than 10 percent of people with AUD obtain treatment or help for alcohol problems. Reframing the way we talk and think about alcohol problems can encourage people to seek and receive the help they need to recover.
In a recent article published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, my NIH colleagues, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora D. Volkow, and National Institute of Mental Health Director Joshua Gordon, and I discuss the impact of stigma on people who have a mental illness or an alcohol or other substance use disorder [1]. We discuss how word choice can perpetuate stigma, leading to lower self-esteem, decreased interest in seeking help, and consequent worsening of symptoms.
We also point to evidence that stigma-related bias among clinicians can contribute to a treatment-averse mindset and to suboptimal clinical care, including failure to implement evidence-based treatment [2]. Studies have shown that the use of clinically accurate language and terms that centralize the experience of patients reduces stigma, resulting in higher quality health care.
Although more evidence-based treatment options for AUD are available today than ever before, stigma is a barrier that prevents some people from accessing treatment. Understanding that AUD is a medical condition and choosing our words carefully when discussing alcohol-related problems are important steps toward changing the conversation. It will empower people to seek treatment for AUD and help clinicians to deliver optimal care.
We can help alleviate the stigma associated with alcohol-related conditions in all settings by consistently using non-pejorative, non-stigmatizing, person-first language to describe such conditions and the people who are affected by them.
Here is some recommended language for reducing alcohol-related stigma that might be helpful:
- Use alcohol use disorder, or AUD, instead of alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcoholism. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), AUD replaces the older categories of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence with the single disorder, AUD, which ranges from mild to severe.
- Use alcohol misuse instead of alcohol abuse when referring broadly to drinking in a manner, situation, amount, or frequency that could cause harm to the person who is engaging in drinking or to those around that person. For some individuals, any alcohol use constitutes alcohol misuse.
- Use person-first language to describe people with alcohol-related problems such as:
- Person with alcohol use disorder instead of alcoholic or addict
- Person in recovery or person in recovery from alcohol use disorder instead of recovering alcoholic
- Person who misuses alcohol or person who engages in alcohol misuse instead of alcohol abuser and drunk
- Use alcohol-associated liver disease instead of alcoholic liver disease. Also use alcohol-associated hepatitis, alcohol-associated cirrhosis, and alcohol-associated pancreatitis instead of alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic cirrhosis, and alcoholic pancreatitis. The use of “alcoholic” as an adjective may perpetuate stigma for people with alcohol-associated liver disease and other alcohol-related health conditions.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, which is a good time to think about how alcohol is affecting your life. If you or a loved one need help for alcohol-related problems, the NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator is a one-stop resource for learning about AUD and evidence-based AUD treatment. The Navigator teaches what you need to know and what you need to do to find evidence-based treatment options in your area.
References:
[1] Choosing appropriate language to reduce the stigma around mental illness and substance use disorders. Volkow ND, Gordon JA, Koob GF. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021 Dec; 46(13):2230–2232.
[2] Discrimination against people with mental illness: What can psychiatrists do? Thornicroft G, Rose D, Mehta N. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 2010 Jan; 16:53–59.
Links:
Alcohol Facts and Statistics (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH)
When It Comes to Reducing Alcohol-Related Stigma, Words Matter (NIAAA)
NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator (NIAAA)
Rethinking Drinking (NIAAA)
[Note: Acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak has asked the heads of NIH’s Institutes and Centers (ICs) to contribute occasional guest posts to the blog to highlight some of the cool science that they support and conduct. This is the sixth in the series of NIH IC guest posts that will run until a new permanent NIH director is in place.]
Addressing the Twin Challenges of Substance Use Disorders and COVID-19
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a wide range of negative impacts on people affected by a variety of health conditions. Among the hardest hit are individuals struggling with substance use disorders, with recent data indicating that suspected drug-related overdoses and deaths are on the rise across the United States [1].
One recent analysis of nationwide surveillance data, collected by the federal Overdose Detection Mapping and Application Program, found that suspected drug overdoses rose by 18 percent in March, 29 percent in April, and 42 percent in May compared to the same months in 2019 [2]. Another analysis of state and local mortality data showed that drug-related deaths have increased about 13 percent so far this year, compared to last year [3].
To find out what may be contributing to this tragic situation and learn what NIH-funded research is doing to help, I recently had a conversation with Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Here’s a condensed version of our interview, which took place via videoconference, with both of us linking in from our homes near NIH’s main campus in Bethesda, MD
Collins: Here we are today talking about two public health crises: the crisis of COVID-19 and another crisis that has been going on for quite some time, of drug overdoses and drug deaths. The opioid crisis is difficult in any circumstance, but when you add to it what’s happening right now with the global COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes difficult squared. What has happened during this pandemic?
Volkow: One of the first things that we’ve heard from the communities and the families afflicted by addiction is that the support systems that were there to help people achieve recovery are no longer present. At the same time, it’s been much harder to get access to some of the treatment programs, including hospital emergency departments that can initiate treatment. It’s also been more difficult to access syringe exchange programs and programs, like Narcotics Anonymous, that provide people with a mentor and a social support system that’s fundamental for recovery. Part of recovery is also for individuals to work at re-building their lives, and that too has become much more challenging due to the threat of COVID-19.
All of these aspects are translating into much more stress. And stress, as we know, is one of the factors that leads people to relapse. Stress is also a factor that leads many to increase the consumption of drugs.
Collins: What about the impact of the stay-at-home orders for people who are depending on social networks? You’ve talked about Narcotics Anonymous as an example. But for anybody who’s faced stress challenges, mental health issues, which often coexist with drug problems, what’s the effect of losing those face-to-face social connections?
Volkow: Isolation is difficult for anyone. We depend on others for our wellbeing. The harder our situation, the more vulnerable we are if we don’t have those support systems.
One of the major concerns that we’ve had all along is not just the enormous risk of relapse in many people, but also the risk of suicide—which is always much higher in individuals that are addicted to drugs, particularly to opioids. Indeed, there’s been an increase in the number of suicides associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including among people that are addicted.
One of the elements we are using to try to overcome that is virtual interactions, like we are having right now. They are fulfilling, certainly for me. And when we’ve surveyed patients and families to see how much these virtual support systems are helping them, we see in many instances that this can be lifesaving. For example, with telehealth, a physician now can prescribe buprenorphine [a treatment medication] without necessarily having to see the individual physically. That’s a major breakthrough because it expands the number of people that can be treated. So, you can provide buprenorphine, and you can also provide support that someone with co-morbid mental illness may need. It’s not the same as physically being with others, but we have to recognize virtual technologies may enable greater equity in providing treatments.
Collins: What’s happened to methadone clinics, a place where people were required to show up in person every day? What’s become of people who depended on those?
Volkow: These spaces are small and there’s not enough staff, so it was very, very high risk. So, one of the positives of COVID-19 is that there was a change in the policy that enabled a methadone clinic to provide take-home methadone for patients, rather than have them come in daily and often at very restricted times, which made it incredibly difficult to comply.
We’re now trying to evaluate the outcomes when people are given take-home methadone. If we can show from evidence that the outcomes are as good as when you go in daily, then we hope that will help to transform these policies permanently.
Collins: So, there’s a silver lining in a few places. Are people who suffer from drug use disorders at increased risk of getting sick from COVID-19?
Volkow: There are many factors that place them at very, very high risk: pharmacological, structural, and social.
Pharmacological, because these drugs negatively affect multiple systems in your body and one of the main targets is the pulmonary system. If your pulmonary system already has pathology because of prior conditions, it’s much easier for the virus to actually infect you and lead to negative outcomes. That pertains to cigarette smoking that produces COPD and pulmonary damage, as well as to very toxic drugs like methamphetamine, which produces pulmonary hypertension; or opioids, which actually depress respiration and produce hypoxia.
You can see that the combination of depressed respiration and having a viral infection that attacks your lungs is not going to be positive. Indeed, it is very likely that that combination lowers the threshold for people to die from overdoses or to die from COVID-19. Drugs can also affect the cardiovascular system and the metabolic system, so all of the factors that we’ve identified as conditions that make you more vulnerable to COVID-19 are affected by drugs.
Then there are structural issues. We’ve already discussed methadone clinics, which put people together in very close spaces. Before COVID-19, one of our main priorities was to bring the treatment of substance use disorder and the screening into the healthcare system. But now the healthcare system is saturated and individuals who’ve gotten their treatment in healthcare systems no longer can access them and that restricts their ability to seek help. In our country, we basically criminalize people who take drugs, and many of them are in jail systems and prisons, where COVID-19 infections can rapidly occur. That is another element where they are at much higher risk.
Also, the number of individuals with substance use disorder who have medical insurance is much less than that of the general population. Not having such insurance is associated with a greater likelihood of having chronic medical conditions, which again is another risk factor for COVID-19. This mixes the structural with the social and, in the social category, you also have stigma.
Stigmatizing individuals with addiction makes them very vulnerable. That’s because, first of all, they are afraid to seek help—they don’t want to be discriminated against. Secondly, if they are in a situation where decisions are being made about providing medical care when resources are limited, that stigma can make them much more vulnerable.
While we are dealing with COVID-19, we cannot ignore the disparities that exist in our society. This pandemic has made it very clear how horrifically disparate health outcomes are between groups of people in our country.
Collins: Nora, you’ve been a real leader on what we might do to try to bring attention to helping people with drug use problems in the criminal justice system. This is often a point where an opportunity for treatment arises, but unfortunately that opportunity is often missed.
Volkow: One of our priorities as we address the opioid crisis is to do research in justice settings in order to be able to identify the models that lead to the best outcomes and to understand how to implement them. This has resulted in the creation of a research network that enables us to connect across the justice and the healthcare systems.
The network that started to emerge before COVID-19 hit has given us an opportunity to get direct information about what’s happening out there. From what we know, because prisons and jails are at such high risk for infection, many states—if not all—are releasing people that are not violent into their communities. Many of them have a substance use disorder. If someone has a long history of a substance use disorder, you cannot release them into the community without a support system, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it’s hard to find a job and their families may be rejecting them. You can predict the outcome is going to be very poor, including dying from overdoses.
So, we now have a chance to show that treating these people in their community with appropriate support is going to lead to much better outcomes than leaving them in jail or prison. We are now working with our researchers and with appropriate agencies to figure out how to provide the support that’s necessary as individuals with substance use disorders are released into their communities. It can go both ways. Without support, the outcomes may be very poor. With support, we have the opportunity of transforming the way that we deal with addiction in this country.
Collins: A lot of people may not realize that effective medical treatment for substance use disorders does exist. Treatment has been demonstrated to change lives and improve outcomes over the long term. Still, a lot of folks out there think it’s just hopeless, or, alternatively, if someone just had a little bit more willpower, he or she would be able to take care of this. Please say a little bit about what the current treatment options are, and what the evidence is that they’re needed if you’re going to help somebody recover from a substance use disorder.
Volkow: There are medications for alcoholism and medications for nicotine use disorders. But, by far, the most effective medications are for opioid addiction. It’s very frustrating these medications are not necessarily given to patients—or sometimes even given to patients, but they reject them. I think part of the issue is because of the stigma against the medications. The opioid crisis has helped smooth that out somewhat, so there’s been a greater acceptance of medication. In partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, we have also been working towards developing extended-release formulations that make it much easier for people to take these medications.
In parallel, not just for opioid addiction, we have built up the scientific evidence for behavioral interventions that can improve outcomes for people with substance use disorder in general, if provided concurrently with medical treatment. Recognizing that there is a high risk of comorbidity with mental illness, we also need to provide treatments to address psychiatric disease problems or symptoms, as well as the addiction process. A lot of the work right now is going into creating models that allow this comprehensive treatment, tailored to the needs of the person.
Collins: Where can people who have a family member or friend who’s struggling with substance use disorder in the midst of COVID-19 go to get reliable evidence-based information about treatment programs?
Volkow: They can go to the NIDA website or the website of NIH’s sister agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). One of the problems is that there hasn’t been any way of assessing the quality of treatment for substance use disorder. For many other conditions, you can check the track records of this or that hospital for this or that surgery, but such information does not exist for substance use disorder.
So, we’ve been funding researchers to develop metrics that can predict good outcomes in treatment programs. These metrics can be based on the experiences of people and family that actually took these services, and from the structural characteristics of the program, such as whether they have the evidence-based components shown by research to lead to better outcomes. Researchers are now developing “report cards” for treatment programs that hopefully will do two things: give a family member a sense of how others are rating a program, and, importantly, incentivize treatment programs to do better.
Collins: It would be wonderful to have more objective data for people searching for good answers. Now, let’s talk about HEAL, which stands for Helping to End Addiction Long-term. HEAL is a trans-agency initiative funded by the Congress to support research to address, from multiple different directions, multiple different problems relating to addiction and chronic pain.
How does the HEAL initiative need to adapt to the current health crisis of COVID-19? And what’s your institute doing to try to address some of the significant problems that have emerged in just the last two or three months?
Volkow: COVID-19 has placed HEAL and much of our other research on a very slow trajectory. For example, one program that we were very interested in expanding was the use of the emergency department for the screening of opioid use disorder and the initiation of treatment medications. Another major HEAL program was going to start using the justice system to conduct clinical trials to evaluate the outcomes of different types of medication for opioid use disorder. They are all basically on hold.
Collins: Nora, what’s your hope going forward over the next few months? What can NIH do to try to address this situation in the most effective way possible?
Volkow: I am optimistic because I can see how science can help to solve extremely challenging problems. I think this is the time for science to shine again and show us that methodologies aimed at gathering objective data to develop optimal solutions can resolve problems. But the question is: how long will it take?
I’ve been very impressed about how these devastating circumstances have led us to question the pace at which we moved projects in the past. I think it is wonderful that we have recognized that time is a luxury, that we need to move rapidly. With respect to the issue of substance use disorders, I would hope that, as we as a nation become aware of the suffering that the COVID-19 pandemic is putting on all of us, we become more empathetic to the suffering of others.
And as I see the movements across the country speaking out against injustice, I would hope that this will also extend to diseases that have been stigmatized. We need to modify our stigma so we provide the same level of importance to treating these diseases and supporting people afflicted by them.
I think that science will prevail. What is going to be important is that we also allow for our humanity in order to use that science in a way that everyone can take advantage of it.
Collins: That’s a wonderful way to wind up because I think the calling to bring together science and compassion is what drives all of us who have the privilege of working at NIH, the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world. Our purpose is clear: to find answers for all of these difficult problems that cause suffering and early death for people who deserve better.
Our vision is set on helping the most vulnerable populations right now. COVID-19 has pointed us toward that, and our discussion about those who suffer from substance use disorders also focuses on that.
I’m always one who likes to talk about hope, because, after all, that’s what we get up in the morning thinking about at NIH. We hope that our research efforts are going to lead to a new vaccine or a new treatment for COVID-19, or a better way of helping people who have been afflicted with drug problems.
Yet one of my favorite sayings is that “hope is a privilege that attaches to action.” This means that you can’t just say “Well, I hope for something,” unless you attach that hope to concrete actions you’re going to take.
Nora, your institute has been living that out. You don’t just hope that something good will happen to turn the tide of this terrible crisis of suffering and death from opioid overdoses, you’re all about action. So, thank you for your incredible dedication to the science and to the people whom we are trying to serve.
Volkow: Francis, thanks very much for your support.
References:
{1] Issue brief: Reports of increases in opioid-related overdose and other concerns during COVID pandemic, American Medical Association. Updated July 20, 2020
[2] “Cries for help’: Drug overdoses are soaring during the coronavirus pandemic.” William Wan, Healther Long. The Washington Post, July 1, 2020.
[3] “In the shadow of the pandemic, U.S. drug overdose deaths resurge to record.” Josh Katz, Abby Goodnough, Margot Sanger-Katz. July 15, 2020.
Links:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) (NIH)
Overdose Mapping Application Program (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Washington, D.C.)
Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative (NIH)
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH)
Video: Effects of COVID-19 on the Opioid Crisis: Francis Collins with Nora Volkow (National Institute on Drug Abuse/NIH)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Dealing with Stress, Anxiety, and Grief during COVID-19
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
If somebody had told you last year that that our country, along with the whole world, would soon be facing a major health challenge like the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, you’d have thought it almost unimaginable. Yet here we are.
To help flatten the pandemic’s deadly curve, a great many of us have been asked to remain at home. I have been faithfully adhering to that recommendation—I haven’t been to my office or lab at NIH in almost three weeks, though I can’t remember a time where I have worked harder. While helping to protect ourselves and others, this physical distancing can affect our mental well-being.
Recently, I had an opportunity to discuss these aspects of COVID-19 with Dr. Joshua Gordon, Director of NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health. Our conversation took place via videoconferencing, with him linking in from his home in the New York area and me from my home in Maryland. Here’s a condensed transcript of our chat:
Collins: So, Josh, tell me how you’re doing there. How’s everybody coping?
Gordon: Right now, my family and I are doing fine. My daughter and I are ensconced here at home, both working from home. She’s finishing up high school online and my wife works for New York City. She’s an essential employee, so she’s still going into work but, fortunately, she’s able to make sure that her workspace is very sparse and she’s able to commute by herself.
Collins: I’m glad you’re okay. Exactly how do you name this kind of stress that everybody’s feeling right now? Is it fear? Is it anxiety about being put in such an area of uncertainty? Is it just grief, the sense that something really profound has happened here and we are losing things in terms of our ability to move around freely? Certainly, we also grieve deeply about the suffering and the death that we see.
Gordon: For different people, it’s different combinations. I know that I feel anxiety for myself and my family in terms of our health. But it’s not just anxiety about contracting the coronavirus, it’s also fear and anxiety about what’s happening to society, what’s happening to our economy, what’s happening to our friends and relatives.
And then there is tremendous grief. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve all lost something already. Right? We’ve lost our normal day-to-day interactions. We’ve lost our ability to physically connect with people and it makes it more challenging to socially connect with people. And we’ve lost that sense of certainty and self-power.
Collins: Talking to my wife Diane about this, I think the grief part of it was something we were both feeling, but hadn’t quite named. Somehow being able to talk about it, experience it, and not try to run away from it turned out to be helpful.
Gordon: Yes, it’s important to talk about it. For most people, it’s a matter of being able to talk about your feelings, get it out into the open, and hear from others that are going through the same thing. They’re your friends that you’re Zooming with, they’re your parents or grandparents that you’re talking to on the phone.
Collins: I hope everybody will feel a little more free to be honest about what they are going through. Maybe sometimes we try to just be tough and keep it all to ourselves and don’t want others around us to be influenced, if we’re talking about our own emotions. But we need to share those things. Besides that, what other things, can be helpful to people who are trying to cope with the current circumstances?
Gordon: One important thing is to focus on the facts. There’s a lot of rumor, there’s a lot of hyperbole out there, and there’s a lot of, frankly, uncertainty. But to the extent that you can, learn and share the facts about the virus. If you know what’s happening, it reduces the uncertainty.
At the same time, one can get so taken up with reading the daily news, listening to the various news conferences that are going on, checking the websites, etc., that it becomes all-consuming. So, it’s really important to set aside periods of each day where you turn off social media, you turn off the TV, turn off the news, and do something that you enjoy. It could be art, it could be exercise, it could be picking up the phone and talking to someone about something other than COVID.
The other thing that’s really important is to take care of your body in addition to your mind. Taking care of your body can help your mind do better. So, yoga, exercise, resting, naps, regular meals, all these things can be helpful. Alcohol is often used as an escape mechanism when you’re feeling stressed. That can be a little tricky or dangerous, so try to avoid drinking excessively.
Connecting with others is really important in this day of physical distancing. I like to call it physical distancing, rather than social distancing, because I think we can be socially intimate and physically distant. So, connect with others, reach out to people, use digital tools, use telephones, use email and text, write a letter.
Collins: A letter?
Gordon: Yes, why not? I haven’t gotten mail for three days. Just saying. So, write a letter, connect with people that you can unwind with, that you can get joy from.
Collins: My wife Diane just stepped in and I want to have her to come over for a minute and say something about this, because I think part of the grief we were feeling was this disconnection from face-to-face interactions with people. Diane’s a very sociable person and this is particularly hard when you’re so isolated in one place. But she came up with something yesterday that seemed to be a help.
Diane Baker: Yes. I’ve got to say, the shelter in place order here in Maryland just surprised me. It took me down a couple of notches and I can’t say it was warranted, I was like I can’t take this. Even though it’s what we’ve been doing, it just emotionally really got to me. And so a friend came up with this idea. She went for a walk in her neighborhood, I went for a walk in my neighborhood, we pulled our phones out and we had a conversation. Even though it was cold rainy day, we didn’t mind it because we were talking to each other. So, we’re going to try and do that on a regular basis.
Gordon: You’re right, your social connectedness really helps. Like I can reach out to my parents in North Carolina, I can reach out to my brother in Philadelphia. We’ve had almost nightly Zoom get-togethers and I actually feel like I’m seeing my relatives more these last couple of weeks than I have in months.
Collins: That’s interesting. We’ve done that too. Every Sunday now we have a Zoom meeting with my daughters and my grandkids.
Diane Baker: The other thing I think it’s done is forced us to be more intentional about our communication. I think that’s something we take for granted. For instance, I have this book club I’ve been a part of for a long time, but we always talk books and politics and topical issues. Now, I’m starting to reach out to them on email and say, “Hey, I’m having a real tough time,” and we’re supporting each other in a way that we haven’t before. It’s been very nice. I’ll let you guys go on..
Gordon: Nice to see you, Diane.
Collins: I think we all feel this urge to do something, to try to contribute in some way. In many ways, we feel a little paralyzed by the fact that we’re stuck indoors and all of the things you might like to do might be risky for yourself or other people. What can we do as far as actions to help other people?
Gordon: Those of you who are working directly on COVID can take a lot of pride in the fact that you’re contributing to that mission. But everyone is contributing to that mission by staying home. I would add a more practical bent to all this, which is that it is important to set goals and priorities for yourself. Finally, there are volunteer opportunities that can be done remotely. There are donations that are being accepted. So, I encourage you, if you feel so moved and have the means to do so, contribute in that way.
Collins: Parents are worried about their kids in terms of how this is affecting them. So, what kind of advice can you give to parents about how to interact with children in this very unusual situation?
Gordon: Kids are, I’m sure, feeling anxious. First, recognize what they’re going through. Talk to them about it, find out what’s concerning them.
Kids always surprise you. They’re not necessarily anxious or worried about the things that you’re anxious or worried about. They might be worried about getting COVID, but they might also just be worried that they’re going to miss their best friend’s birthday next week. So, if you find out what’s bothering them, then you can help them. You can have them Zoom a happy birthday song or connect in some other way.
Reassuring them can help. But, more importantly, it’s just answering their questions as honestly as you can. When you don’t know, admit that you don’t, but say that you’ll be there for them.
Collins: Everybody is facing a certain amount of stress, anxiety, and grief at this time, but it hits some people even harder. What would be the signs that this is getting into a circumstance that might require some additional help?
Gordon: Let’s talk about how we recognize when this might be a thing that we can’t deal with and that is sending us over the edge. I went out grocery shopping last Friday. I managed to find a mask to wear and gloves, but I actually couldn’t take it. I was so anxious. I bought a few things and I had to leave. I felt in me something I’ve really never felt before. My heart started racing, I started breathing fast. I was getting a panic attack. That was something pushing me over the edge in ways that I hadn’t been challenged before.
If that happens to you, recognize it and seek help. So, what are the signs? We’re all feeling anxious, but if you feel so anxious you can’t get your work done, you actually can’t do the thing that you set out to do, reach out for help either from a friend or from a professional. Other signs would be you’re starting to withdraw from people, having trouble sleeping, change in appetite, change in physical energy levels, or starting to become irritable or angry.
For those with pre-existing mental illnesses, it’s really important that they reach out to their providers and find ways of connecting. Every mental health provider that I know of right now is moving to telehealth sessions. Not everyone is used to teleconferences, not everyone knows how to use them. So, plan in advance with your provider how you’re going to contact with them so that you can get the help you need when you need it. Make sure that you have enough medication in-house and work out with your pharmacy how you can get it delivered rather than having to go pick it up, whether that’s from a mail order pharmacy or getting your local pharmacy to deliver to you.
Finally, there are hot lines. For those experiencing distress with the COVID epidemic, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration has the Disaster Distress Helpline. That’s 800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746. For those who are really struggling, and are thinking of hurting or killing themselves, there’s the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or you can text “HOME” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
Collins: Before we close, I’d like to talk about how, despite the stress, the anxiety, and the grief that we’re all feeling, we might somehow learn something pretty significant about ourselves during this pandemic. Can you say something about that?
Gordon: One thing we know is that resilience isn’t necessarily about something you already have. It’s something that you learn, that people who’ve been through challenging times and risen to the occasion, they learn from that. They become resilient. They learn how to get through challenging situations in the future.
For many of us, this is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and how we can grow as people, as human beings, and as fathers and mothers and daughters and sons. This is an opportunity to prove that we can respond to an emergency like this in a way that is thoughtful, in a way that is caring, and in a way that contributes to improving the situation for all of us
Collins: It does call us, doesn’t it, to focus on things that in our daily rush of business as usual, we neglect to think about. What are we really here for? What’s the meaning of all of this? What is our responsibility to try to make the world a better place?
I’d predict that all of us who are living through this COVID-19 experience will look back on it as a time of special significance in terms of what we learned about ourselves and about the perspective of what really matters in this world. So, yes, it’s stressful, it’s full of grief and sorrow, but maybe it’s a way in which you can gain something to carry forward. Josh, thank you so much.
Resources:
The Disaster Distress Helpline, 1-800-985-5990 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255
Coping with Coronavirus: Managing Stress, Fear, and Anxiety, Director’s Messages (National Institute of Mental Health/NIH)
Stress and Coping, Coronavirus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Coronavirus (COVID-19) (NIH)
NIH Family Members Giving Back: Toben Nelson
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: Toben Nelson (back row, far left) celebrates with his Roseville Raiders after winning Gopher State Tournament of Champions.
Caption: Heather Hammond Nelson
What was Toben Nelson, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist who studies the health risks of alcohol abuse and obesity, doing this summer lugging around a heavy equipment bag after work? Giving back to his community. Nelson volunteered as a coach for the Roseville Raiders, a 13-year-old-and-under traveling baseball team that just wrapped up its season by winning the prestigious Gopher State Tournament of Champions in their age group.
In the fall, Nelson will gear up for hoops as the volunteer president of the Roseville Youth Basketball Association, which provides an opportunity for kids in this Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb to take part in organized sports. Nelson says volunteering grounds him as a scientist. It reminds him every single day that his NIH-supported research back at the office affects real lives and benefits real communities like his own.
Widening Gap in U.S. Life Expectancy
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: Life expectancy at birth by county, 2014. Life expectancy into 80s (blue), 70s (green, yellow, orange), 60s (red).
Americans are living longer than ever before, thanks in large part to NIH-supported research. But a new, heavily publicized study shows that recent gains in longevity aren’t being enjoyed equally in all corners of the United States. In fact, depending on where you live in this great country, life expectancy can vary more than 20 years—a surprisingly wide gap that has widened significantly in recent decades.
Researchers attribute this disturbing gap to a variety of social and economic influences, as well as differences in modifiable behavioral and lifestyle factors, such as obesity, inactivity, and tobacco use. The findings serve as a sobering reminder that, despite the considerable progress made possible by biomedical science, more research is needed to figure out better ways of addressing health disparities and improving life expectancy for all Americans.
In the new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a research team, partially funded by NIH, found that the average American baby born in 2014 can expect to live to about age 79 [1]. That’s up from a national average of about 73 in 1980 and around 68 in 1950. However, babies born in 2014 in remote Oglala Lakota County, SD, home to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, can expect to live only about 66 years. That’s in stark contrast to a child born about 400 miles away in Summit County, CO, where life expectancy at birth now exceeds age 86.
