South Africans are more addicted than ever after lockdown

MyPR: South Africans are more addicted than ever after lockdown:

Doug Kemp Vice opinion interview

So what actually happened in South Africa when 57 million people had their access to alcohol removed in lockdown?

South Africa has a massive “binge” drinking or drug use problem at the best of times. It is so prevalent in the culture that we almost see it as a societal norm and accept it as life in South Africa.

However, the answer is not exactly as clear-cut as one could imagine. It is too early to create the “stats” as we are still in lockdown, but the fallout indicators are all there.

The problem with binge drinking is that it is a complete wipeout when people are able to drink again. The periods of abstinence temporarily stem the tide of extreme drinking when the opportunity re-emerges.

The recent press about emergency room visits around South Africa (the moment the alcohol ban was lifted) is indicative to that binge drinking culture but I am sorry to say, it is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

How many people do you think were problematic alcoholics when lockdown started.

It is so hard to say because the concept of alcoholics and alcoholism is a legacy of societal perceptions, understanding that alcohol use disorders are symptoms of many other issues.

These issues involve relationships or traumatic events that still hold influence that can be compounded by many other things like burnout, stress, chronic depression and/or anxiety.

If we factor all those into consideration we are talking millions of South Africans.

We cannot uncouple any of these elements as they are routinely caused by similar factors the difference being that some people choose alcohol others to choose drugs, legal or prescription, it makes no difference to the mind that simply wants to restore calm it does not care what substance, so long as it works.

What is the main cause of people being alcoholics in South Africa?

People don’t willingly don the title of “alcoholic”. It is a progression over time and is a very unfortunate and unfair label, steeped in undue stigma and does very little to describe who they are as valuable human beings.

In the case of people with highly symptomatic alcohol use disorders or people who compulsively “HAVE” to drink every. The alcohol may be being used to regulate deeper emotional states. (a practice referred to as “self-soothe” or “self medicate”).

It becomes a subconscious routine to “self-soothe” or “self medicate”. If you forcefully remove alcohol from them (like with lockdown) there is a massive disruption to their pattern and the risk of their behaviours becoming erratic, risky and potentially life-threatening to themselves or others upfront or down the line.

It is easy to say people must just stop drinking alcohol and for the majority of drinkers, the solution is just that simple. Take away the alcohol and people sober up, but it does not change why they were using alcohol to self medicate or self soothe in the first place. These behaviours may come from many different distorted conditions, belief systems or emotions that they may have been holding onto over their lifetime. So the “reasons” that they compulsively use alcohol aren’t simply erased by lockdown regulations.

The alcohol use cycle often becomes ingrained in people’s identities, and thus the regulations telling people to stop being themselves weigh against far more complex and deeply rooted factors.

Part of the fear that drives people to perpetually seek alcohol is also founded on a real medical fact. Alcohol and heroin carry some of the strongest withdrawals and in severe cases can result in seizure and death. Thus detox must be planned through a hospital and be managed safely.

The actual individual reasons for so many individuals in South Africa struggling with substances may come down to problematic relationships and the prevalence of abuse through our country’s past trauma which compounds the many of the social issues that our communities face.

Do you have any stats of what has happened to people with substance issues in South Africa’s dry lockdown?

As of right now, we have no idea of the real stats behind the abuse, domestic violence, suicide, divorce or relationship issues that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the lockdown in South Africa.

All I know is that the lockdown regulations in South Africa will have some very sad, real and permanent impacts on so many people’s lives that has nothing to do with the virus.

We are seeing the most horrific headlines containing words like multiple murder or “femicide” “man sets girlfriend alight”, “man shoots son over a fight with the mother” many heinous rapes and abuse account for the personal disaster stories of the people that experienced them.

You can’t blame lockdown, but you can.

Keep in mind we are only seeing a fraction of the most extreme incidents in the media, the rest of the abuse is so commonplace that it does not even make it to print. It does not mean a messy divorce is not a psychologically earth-shattering event for a child.

Globally the BLM Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 have captured much of the media attention that the local social horror stories have drowned out.

But some are just too horrific to ignore, even by our president.

The problem we have as a society is that all these issues are dealt with in isolation of each other and the substances involved whereas they are absolutely interconnected through many personal narratives.

Stats from last year in South Africa indicate that 50+ % of women experience violence or abuse from a partner or in a relationship at some point. The death toll then was around 7 women murdered each day in South Africa.

Removing the many coping mechanisms of people living in close proximity to each other disrupts a dangerous pattern indeed.

“Let’s just be clear that we are living in a country that already  has a suicide rate four times that of the global average.”

Do you think the lockdown stopped confirmed alcoholics from drinking?

Ha!

As a former “alcoholic” I can categorically tell you that the lockdown did not stop anything whatsoever. It may have slowed some people down in some places but not for long and not for the many people needing or willing to bend the rules.

And most “alcoholics” are quite happy to bend the rules to get a drink.

The “illegal” markets for liquor simply fired off as an immediate response to the regulations and despite anything the president said or the military tried to enforce. While the alcohol industry reeled and shouted the alcohol black market just picked up where they left off.

Somebody knew somebody who would deliver something at some time if you paid money. The simple enterprise of supply and demand and quick profits. The only thing that actually changed was the suppliers, legislation and thousands of jobs lost.

Let’s not mention the rampant increase in pineapple sales to make illegal pineapple beer was unprecedented. Random friends on Facebook with full homebrew facilities while out of work mothers in the informal settlements seamlessly switched to selling illegally manufactured booze by the litre.

The queries not making headlines included a barrage of people drinking or refining and drinking isopropyl alcohol in hand sanitizer, methylated spirits. Home distillation kits sold out instantly online.

The immediate crossover to alternative substances such as cannabis and prescription medications like benzos boomed in the background. Over March, April and May 2020 people checking the legality of cannabis and the brand names of various benzodiazepines in South Africa on our website went through the roof in comparison to other pages.

This demand increase in Cape Town and across South Africa is indicative of many people switching substances or “cross addicting” or people using these substances to “home detox” which is another distinct possibility.

What could South Africa have done better?

As human beings, we have inherently flawed thinking insofar as problems that concern ourselves and “other people” and/or the entire nation in this matter.

We think in the first order of events and solve the most apparent problems as quickly as possible, even if the impact of that solution has wider and more damaging side effects further down the road.

Much of the legislation around the lockdowns in South Africa suffers from this first-order thinking conundrum.

Inflated egos of ministers making decisions to skew their ability to retract those decisions and make remedy changes to benefit the people impacted. It is natural for them to want to defend their opinions by finding people validate their decisions rather than to look at what is actually going on to see how we can make a valuable change. It is not our minister’s fault alone opposition parties play an equal role in antagonising these decisions into forced errors of judgment.

Yes and it all sounds like “someone else’s” problem until a loved family member commits suicide, gets beaten, raped or jailed for domestic violence or drunken driving.

Final words?

When you see a family member struggling with addiction issues, you can choose to put your hand up to help or turn a blind eye. I don’t have to live with the consequences of your decisions, you do. Make the effort please, just be that person that helps not harms. Be a support, be a guide and be someone who listens when you are needed.

If you would like to hear the conversation with Cape Talk on this topic click here.

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