Subject(s)
COVID-19/psychology , Public Health/standards , Social Marginalization/psychology , Trust/psychology , Access to Information , Allied Health Personnel/standards , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/virology , Communication , Humans , Language , Leadership , Minnesota/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Social InclusionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: 2019-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is causing insurmountable psychosocial impact on the whole mankind. Marginalized community, particularly those with substance use disorders (SUD), are particularly vulnerable to contract the infection and also likely to suffer from greater psychosocial burden. This article analyses the intricate bi-directional relationship between COVID-19 and addiction. METHODS: Pubmed and Google Scholar are searched with the following key terms- "COVID-19", "SARS-CoV2", "Pandemic", "Addiction", "Opioid", "Alcohol", "Smoking", "Addiction Psychiatry", "Deaddiction", "Substance use disorders", "Behavioral addiction". Few newspaper reports related to COVID-19 and addiction have also been added as per context. RESULTS: People with SUD are at greater risk of worse COVID-19 outcome. There is surge of addictive behaviors (both new and relapse) including behavioral addiction in this period. Withdrawal emergencies and death are also being increasingly reported. Addicted people are especially facing difficulties in accessing the healthcare services which are making them prone to procure drugs by illegal means. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 and addiction are the two pandemics which are on the verge of collision causing major public health threat. While every effort must be taken to make the public aware of deleterious effects of SUD on COVID-19 prognosis, the resumption of deaddiction services and easier accessibility of prescription drugs are needs of the hour.
Subject(s)
Behavior, Addictive/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/psychology , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Behavior, Addictive/complications , Behavior, Addictive/psychology , Betacoronavirus/physiology , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Delivery of Health Care/methods , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care/trends , Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration , Health Services Accessibility/standards , Health Services Accessibility/trends , Humans , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Prognosis , SARS-CoV-2 , Social Marginalization/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/complicationsSubject(s)
Aged/psychology , Ageism , Coronavirus Infections , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Social Marginalization/psychology , Social Stigma , Ageism/prevention & control , Ageism/psychology , Ageism/trends , Attitude to Health , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/psychology , Humans , Iran , Mental Health/trends , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/psychology , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The world has endured over six months of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Older adults are at disproportionate risk of severe infection and mortality. They are also vulnerable to loneliness and social exclusion during the pandemic. Age and ageism both can act as significant risk factors during this pandemic, increasing the physical as well as psychosocial burden on the elderly. A review was performed in relation to the psychosocial vulnerabilities of the older adults during the pandemic, with insights from the similar biological disasters in the past. Besides the physiological risk, morbidities, polypharmacy and increased case fatality rates, various social factors like lack of security, loneliness, isolation, ageism, sexism, dependency, stigma, abuse and restriction to health care access were identified as crucial in pandemic situation. Frailty, cognitive and sensory impairments added to the burden. Marginalization and human rights deprivation emerged as a common pathway of suffering for the elderly during COVID-19. The implications of the emergent themes are discussed in light of psychosocial wellbeing and impact on the quality of life. The authors suggest potential recommendations to mitigate this marginalization on lines of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s concept of Healthy Ageing and the United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals.