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Jessica Berget
Editor-in-Chief

 

|" a previous feature, we talked about the possible
psychological effects of the quarantine as a

result of the coronavirus. Now that this lockdown
has been in full swing for a couple months now,

the consequences of both social isolation and a
prolonged state of emergency are quickly beginning
to surface. Let's take a look at the effects of the

COVID-19 lockup until this point.

OVERDOSE
As a result of prolonged isolation, growing
unemployment rates, and extreme social restrictions,
more people have been misusing alcohol and drugs.
ABC Coroners Service illicit drug toxicity death
report from January 1 to April 30 shows the number
of suspected drug related deaths from the beginning
of the pandemic to the most recent month. As we
didn’t go into lockdown until March, the number of
overdose deaths for January and February are less
than 80.

There is a spike in the number of deaths starting
the same month the restrictions began. In March,
at the beginning of the lockdown, there were 112
suspected overdose deaths. In April there were
117 suspected drug related deaths—a 39 percent
increase from April last year (84). The possibility of
contracting the virus is a concern for many people
who are in need of help for their addictions, so they
cannot get the assistance they need—according to
a statement made by medical health officer Dr. Karin

Goodison in a Global News article.

  

 
  

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D, consequences

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The aftermath of the economical shutdown and social isolation

SUICIDE
Overall, mental health has taken a downturn in these

times of extreme stress and extreme distance from our

support circles. In April, an Angus Reid poll showed
that half of Canadians said their mental space was
deteriorating during the pandemic. Consequently,
suicide attempts have also begun rising all over the

world. According to a ABC7 news article, Bay area Dr.

Mike deBoisblanc says they've “seen a year's worth
of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” Crisis and
suicide hot lines have also seen a surge of calls—
some going up to about 30 to 50 percent since the
pandemic began. Furthermore, according to Crisis
Services Canada, 26 percent of calls and messages
(since the end of March) to the National Suicide
Prevention Service were COVID-19 related.
According to Crisis Services Canada CEO,
Stephanie Mackendrick, the severity of these
interactions has also risen with an increase of
emergency services being called—which is known
as a “active rescues.” There were 62 percent more
active rescues in this month as compared to this
month last year. Mackendrick says this may be due

to no one going to hospitals anymore, so people are

not reaching out for help until it is a serious crisis.
What's more is that suicide centres are dealing with
a huge decrease in volunteers—about 90 percent—

because of the pandemic.

DEBT

With many businesses closed and many others
out of work, many are turning to the government
for financial aid. As a result, many people and
institutions—including our own country—have

 

 

accumulated debt. According to Statistics Canada,
Canadians on average earned about $4,383 per
month at the beginning of 2019. With the Canadian
Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) giving people