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All of the non-COVID deaths I’ve heard of among younger people (<60) from my extended social circle and their family/friends have been drug related. Working fr

All of the non-COVID deaths I’ve heard of among younger people (<60) from my extended social circle and their family/friends have been drug related. Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. When your coworkers can’t see you, it’s much easier to be inebriated or otherwise suffering from addiction-related issues without feeling social pressure to correct it.

tomcam 5y ago
Thank you for saying < 60 is young!
jeffbee 5y ago
That's pretty normal, at least for the last few decades of American life. There is not a major natural cause of death for people 18-65. They die of suicide, accidental overdoses, and car crashes.
- stavros 5y ago
  When we say "overdoses", doesn't it sound like the person's fault, when it was probably that they were sold a poisoned/cut batch? I wonder how many "overdoses" would have been avoided if you could buy drugs at a pharmacy.
  - prirun 5y ago
    A lot of times an overdose occurs if a person got clean for a while then went back to using. They tend to start using at their previous levels even though their body is no longer used to that level, so it's a sudden jolt that kills them. So I've read - I have zero experience with drugs, luckily.
    - stavros 5y ago
      Yeah, I've read that too, but I have no idea which is more frequent. I'd assume the tainted drugs are more frequent, just because getting tainted product is more frequent than getting clean and relapsing, but I don't know. I'll definitely recommend LSD or mushrooms, though. They are lots of fun.
  - worik 5y ago
    Almost all, if there were some sensible regulation. People do not die from smoking opium, much. But die a lot from popping pills. Concentrated synthetic opioids are deadly.
woodruffw 5y ago
> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. This is a cruel twist, given that suicide deaths actually decreased in 2020[1], probably for the reason you've mentioned: spending nearly all of your time with others makes you accountable and removes opportunities for self-harm. [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR016.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR016.pdf
- abyssin 5y ago
  I’m not a native speaker, but there seems to be something inappropriately judgmental about the wording of “keeping in check”. Loneliness is hard for many and causes suffering, and drugs are sometimes used to try to manage suffering. More use is linked to more accidents.
  - MathCodeLove 5y ago
    It's not judgemental - it just is. Many addicts in recovery themselves use similar language. I spend a lot of time with recovering addicts and alcoholics and accountability is an important component of treatment.
  - woodruffw 5y ago
    I can see the judgemental interpretation, but I don't think that's what the GP intended. I read it as "most people suffering from addiction benefit from accountability, one form of which is the in-person responsibilities of work."
- kirse 5y ago
  spending nearly all of your time with others makes you accountable and removes opportunities for self-harm. Never would have seen it coming that encouraging people to stay isolated for years at a time and actively fearing their own proximity to one another would be detrimental.
  - woodruffw 5y ago
    I think you mis-read my comment. The irony is that people are actually closer than ever to their family (or house-mates) due to COVID, which is pushing suicide rates down.
romanovcode 5y ago
> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. Not only that but the lockdowns making people low-key depressed which would also be a reason for using addictive substances since they often go hand-in-hand together. I could be pretty much classified an alcoholic during most of 2019-2020 because a six-pack a day keeps the boredom away.
- danielheath 5y ago
  That’s… a substantial way past “pretty much”.
  - romanovcode 5y ago
    I just realized that I was not a real alcoholic when I stopped drinking altogether without any withdrawal symptoms or anything like that. But yeah, it's a slippery slope for sure.
    - molyss 5y ago
      Maybe you didn’t fit the addiction part of aloholism, but when it comes to consumption, a 6-pack a day definitely puts you in that category, along with associated psysical and psychological risks. I’d definitely mention that level of alcohol consumption to my GP and get all relevant blood tests
      - willcipriano 5y ago
        Alcoholism is defined by it's consequences, not by how much you drink. It is the the state of drinking despite dramatic negative life consequences.
    - danielheath 5y ago
      IIRC, on average it takes a month or two of having alcohol every day to start getting physiologically addicted (but - like most of biology - it can be faster or slower). For anyone reading who thinks that may apply to them: Talk to your doctor. "Cold Turkey" alcohol withdrawals can kill.
jdavis703 5y ago
Coincidentally all the natural cause deaths in my circle were “natural” diseases like cancer and COVID-19. I’m in my 30s now, and no longer really hang out with (non-functional) drug addicts anymore though. YMMV.
syshum 5y ago
This is one of the problem with all the people focusing on "excess deaths" as a metric for COVID Deaths.
alienthrowaway 5y ago
> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. COVID countermeasures reduced the number of safe recreational activities, and was a horrible for mental health overall. Additionally, America offers very little support for mental health distress, so I imagine this triple threat has been devastating to drug addicts. I'm only guessing as a teetotaler who got addicted to video games and Twitter in that time (and I used to scoff at Twitter-addicts since I had a small, curated list of accounts I followed) [edit]A fourth factor - drug overdoses (and other "less serious" medical issues) also got less medical care because it was being hogged by respiratory patients.

tomcam 5y ago

Thank you for saying < 60 is young!

jeffbee 5y ago

That's pretty normal, at least for the last few decades of American life. There is not a major natural cause of death for people 18-65. They die of suicide, accidental overdoses, and car crashes.

stavros 5y ago
When we say "overdoses", doesn't it sound like the person's fault, when it was probably that they were sold a poisoned/cut batch? I wonder how many "overdoses" would have been avoided if you could buy drugs at a pharmacy.
- prirun 5y ago
  A lot of times an overdose occurs if a person got clean for a while then went back to using. They tend to start using at their previous levels even though their body is no longer used to that level, so it's a sudden jolt that kills them. So I've read - I have zero experience with drugs, luckily.
  - stavros 5y ago
    Yeah, I've read that too, but I have no idea which is more frequent. I'd assume the tainted drugs are more frequent, just because getting tainted product is more frequent than getting clean and relapsing, but I don't know. I'll definitely recommend LSD or mushrooms, though. They are lots of fun.
- worik 5y ago
  Almost all, if there were some sensible regulation. People do not die from smoking opium, much. But die a lot from popping pills. Concentrated synthetic opioids are deadly.

woodruffw 5y ago

> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. This is a cruel twist, given that suicide deaths actually decreased in 2020[1], probably for the reason you've mentioned: spending nearly all of your time with others makes you accountable and removes opportunities for self-harm. [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR016.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR016.pdf

abyssin 5y ago
I’m not a native speaker, but there seems to be something inappropriately judgmental about the wording of “keeping in check”. Loneliness is hard for many and causes suffering, and drugs are sometimes used to try to manage suffering. More use is linked to more accidents.
- MathCodeLove 5y ago
  It's not judgemental - it just is. Many addicts in recovery themselves use similar language. I spend a lot of time with recovering addicts and alcoholics and accountability is an important component of treatment.
- woodruffw 5y ago
  I can see the judgemental interpretation, but I don't think that's what the GP intended. I read it as "most people suffering from addiction benefit from accountability, one form of which is the in-person responsibilities of work."
kirse 5y ago
spending nearly all of your time with others makes you accountable and removes opportunities for self-harm. Never would have seen it coming that encouraging people to stay isolated for years at a time and actively fearing their own proximity to one another would be detrimental.
- woodruffw 5y ago
  I think you mis-read my comment. The irony is that people are actually closer than ever to their family (or house-mates) due to COVID, which is pushing suicide rates down.

romanovcode 5y ago

> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. Not only that but the lockdowns making people low-key depressed which would also be a reason for using addictive substances since they often go hand-in-hand together. I could be pretty much classified an alcoholic during most of 2019-2020 because a six-pack a day keeps the boredom away.

danielheath 5y ago
That’s… a substantial way past “pretty much”.
- romanovcode 5y ago
  I just realized that I was not a real alcoholic when I stopped drinking altogether without any withdrawal symptoms or anything like that. But yeah, it's a slippery slope for sure.
  - molyss 5y ago
    Maybe you didn’t fit the addiction part of aloholism, but when it comes to consumption, a 6-pack a day definitely puts you in that category, along with associated psysical and psychological risks. I’d definitely mention that level of alcohol consumption to my GP and get all relevant blood tests
    - willcipriano 5y ago
      Alcoholism is defined by it's consequences, not by how much you drink. It is the the state of drinking despite dramatic negative life consequences.
  - danielheath 5y ago
    IIRC, on average it takes a month or two of having alcohol every day to start getting physiologically addicted (but - like most of biology - it can be faster or slower). For anyone reading who thinks that may apply to them: Talk to your doctor. "Cold Turkey" alcohol withdrawals can kill.

jdavis703 5y ago

Coincidentally all the natural cause deaths in my circle were “natural” diseases like cancer and COVID-19. I’m in my 30s now, and no longer really hang out with (non-functional) drug addicts anymore though. YMMV.

syshum 5y ago

This is one of the problem with all the people focusing on "excess deaths" as a metric for COVID Deaths.

alienthrowaway 5y ago

> Working from home can remove a lot of the accountability that keeps addicts in check. COVID countermeasures reduced the number of safe recreational activities, and was a horrible for mental health overall. Additionally, America offers very little support for mental health distress, so I imagine this triple threat has been devastating to drug addicts. I'm only guessing as a teetotaler who got addicted to video games and Twitter in that time (and I used to scoff at Twitter-addicts since I had a small, curated list of accounts I followed) [edit]A fourth factor - drug overdoses (and other "less serious" medical issues) also got less medical care because it was being hogged by respiratory patients.