COVID made Americans drink more. They haven’t stopped since

A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that excessive alcohol consumption among Americans has persisted in the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to new data, the percentage of Americans who consumed alcohol, which had already risen from 2018 to 2020, increased further in 2021 and 2022. Both the total number of alcohol consumers and the number of people abusing alcohol showed an upward trend. New research suggests that drinking did not stop as things returned to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers from the University of Southern California conducted the population-based study using data from adults 18 years and older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 2018 to 2022. The National Health Interview Survey is a nationally representative survey that used complex sampling methods, with more than 24,000 residents of the United States participating each year. The surveys included questions about alcohol consumption, socio-economic and demographic factors, and the health status of the respondents.

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths. During the pandemic, Americans experienced stress, isolation, and uncertainty. "People assumed this was caused by acute stress, like what we saw with 9/11 and Katrina, and typically it goes back to normal after these stressful events are over. But that's not what we're seeing," said Dr. Brian P. Lee, a hepatologist at the University of Southern California, according to The New York Times. He noted an enormous surge of patients with alcohol-related problems early in the pandemic, which has continued. Dr. Lee stated, "Alcohol can be addictive, and we know that addiction doesn't go away, even if the initial trigger that started it has gone away."

Rates of heavy drinking and alcohol-related liver disease had been rising steadily for decades before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. However, alcohol-related deaths surged in 2020 due to the pandemic. One study reported a 25 percent increase in alcohol-related deaths in a single year during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting an "alarming public health issue," as alcohol is a leading cause of illness and death in the United States.

More Americans reported heavy or binge drinking in 2021 and 2022, and this trend continued into 2022—three years after the start of the pandemic, people had not returned to a healthy lifestyle. Researchers suggested that potential reasons for this sustained increase include the normalization and adaptation to increased alcohol consumption due to stress caused by the pandemic and problems with access to medical services.

Dr. Divya Ayyala, whose comments were reported by CBS News, attributed the initial increase in drinking to social isolation and lack of access to healthcare during the pandemic, stating, "Originally, the increase in drinking was due to social isolation, disruption and daily activity and general lack of accessibility to healthcare and mental healthcare during a really stressful time." She noted that sustained trends suggest that either people don't know where to get help or they don't know that they need help.

Sources: The New York Times, Gazeta.ru, CBS News

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq