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At home all day, little social control, little distraction: For alcohol addicts, confinement can be an additional threat. Also because many group therapies are canceled.
By Oliver Feldforth, HR
“I’ve enjoyed working my entire life, and suddenly I was home alone for eleven weeks,” says Peter, who does not want to give his real name, of his time at headquarters. “Never mind, I can drink. It’s not even a good high.”
A beer or two after work which was always normal for him. But then it turned into strong beer and vodka. “And at some point,” he describes, “so far I slept twelve hours and got up and drank the first strong beer.” Peter lives alone. It got lonely in the home office.
Many drink daily
Like him, more and more people feel in times of Corona. And the new restrictions could make the situation worse. According to a July survey conducted on behalf of the commercial health insurance company KKH, one in three men and about one in five women drink alcohol several days a week, nine percent of men and five percent of women sometimes even daily. The crisis in the crown has exacerbated the situation: almost a quarter of those who already consume wine, beer, sparkling wine or hard liquor several times a week admit that they have done so more frequently since the pandemic, according to the KKH.
Hans, his real name too, likes to drink wine at night. Often a bottle. Too much, as he himself says. Then came Corona. “The confinement had such an effect that I work from home and had the opportunity to pick up a bottle during the day,” he says. “At some point I realized that I felt the need to start early.” You are shaking, but when you drink, stop. “In fact, I felt really fit for the first time.”
Both Hans and Peter turned to the Caritas Association in Darmstadt for help. They both go into abstinence.
The problems increase
Andrea Wiechert of the Addiction Help Center is increasingly noticing that family members contacted because family members were using more. Before this was less visible. The addiction service has been discovering for weeks that problems with cannabis, cocaine and online gambling are also on the rise.
Wiechert is worried about the future: “We assume that we will experience the consequences of this in the next few years, after all, people only recognize the suffering that has to change after a certain point in time.”
Almost no group therapy
Currently, group therapies are only possible to a limited extent. Caritas now has a waiting list.
Politics and science are also taking up the issue. The University of Erfurt is working on a long-term study on behalf of the federal government’s drug commissioner. But there will only be numbers next spring.
Peter and Hans were lucky, their families and employers were supportive. They have both been clean since they retired. For subsequent outpatient therapy, you must demonstrate six weeks of abstinence. “That was the right time to go to the clinic,” says Hans. A healing shock. “I’m glad to be alcohol-free and I’m sure it will continue to be.”
