Heartbeat: Alcohol care team report rise in referrals during lockdown
September 7, 2020
Lockdown has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of referrals to our alcohol care team (ACT), with national figures showing 22.2 per cent more people reaching for the bottle during the pandemic.
Arlene Copland, Lead Alcohol Nurse, and her team have continued to support patients throughout lockdown, offering a seven-day service. They work with Cranstoun Sandwell to identify those who need further help.
One patient told Heartbeat how lockdown caused him to relapse and drink more than a bottle of gin a day. The dad-of-two revealed how the pandemic rules had left him lonely which led him to drink again. It was only when his son’s girlfriend spotted the signs that he was able to seek the help of the ACT.
The award-winning service had previously provided an elective hospital detox to the patient in January 2020. Following his relapse, he was able to stop drinking with the support of the team and he hasn’t consumed alcohol for two months.
“I can say that if it wasn’t for lockdown, I wouldn’t have relapsed,” said the patient, who had been made redundant last year. “I live by myself and I wasn’t coping very well.
I had been sober since January, but then two weeks into lockdown, I cracked one night and downed half a bottle of gin. When I woke up the next day I felt disappointed with myself, but before I knew it, I was drinking a bottle and a quarter a day.
“I would wake up in the morning, go downstairs and pour myself a gin and coke. I thought nothing of refilling my glass when it was empty and before the end of the day, I would have polished off one bottle and started on the next one. I felt that the world had become quite dark, very quickly and I didn’t cope well in lockdown. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had been on the verge of finding another job, but the situation put a halt to that.”
Two weeks later he was visited by his son’s girlfriend who noticed a change in him and confronted him about his drinking. The patient was first referred to the alcohol team in October 2019 after he realised he had a problem.
He was put on a reduction programme then underwent detox where he was admitted to hospital for three days. “I was very nervous at the time, but it worked well. The team were fantastic and they don’t judge you at all.
“I would say to someone who thinks they have a problem, to go to your GP and seek help. Lockdown has been difficult for many, and there have been people who have been turning to drink. But it’s about recognising if you have a problem and making that first move to help yourself.”
Arlene added: “We have supported several people who have relapsed back to excessive drinking during lockdown because of anxiety, uncertainty, feeling low or isolated.
“There is a widespread belief that alcohol helps to reduce stress and anxiety, improves mood and sleep, but this is not the case. In reality, alcohol is a depressant which increases anxiety and prevents deep sleep; we need to remind ourselves that alcohol is a toxic substance which has no benefits, despite what we want to believe.
“People who develop an addiction to alcohol do not do so because they like the taste of their chosen drink, but because they believe that it is helping them cope with life. Alcohol does not have this ability, and there are many more positive ways we can deal with emotional issues other than drinking alcohol.”
Natasha Simpson, Borough Manager for Cranstoun Sandwell, said: “At the start of the pandemic Cranstoun saw a drop in referrals from people asking for support with their alcohol and drug use compared to the same time last year – we believe this was due to people starting to adjust to being at home.
“Since April we have seen a 229 per cent increase in referrals from people wanting support to make positive changes to their alcohol use and a 139 per cent increase in people wanting help to change their drug use.
“Sandwell residents can also access a free and confidential app to help reduce the amount of alcohol they drink. The app helps to identify how much you drink and offers safe advice on how to cut down. The Lower My Drinking app can be downloaded through Google Play or iTunes. The team at Cranstoun Sandwell are also available to offer advice and support on 0121 553 1333.