Substance abuse community members are generally an isolated group to begin with, Moira Satre of CAYA Coalition says, and the COVID 19 stay-at-home restrictions are making everything worse.
“Addiction before COVID was isolating," the founder and CEO of one of the region's leading mental health assistance groups says. "It is even more isolating now that we are expecting these individuals to pick up the phone or get online to access support."
"It just may not work out well.”
Kaitlyn Nickson, chair of the CAYA Coalition Board and support coordinator for Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services, echoes this sentiment. “We have already lost contact with a number of the people that we serve due to poor internet access and the inability of them to take advantage of programs that have transitioned online.”
Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services, or RRCS, serves a five-county region of Rappahannock, Fauquier, Culpeper, Madison and Orange and addresses a variety of mental health needs.
Further adding to the concerns of the substance abuse and mental health community are job loss and increased anxiety. “It is reported that families who are considered to have stable mental health are feeling the strain caused by at-home orders. Imagine someone who struggles with anxiety, depression, or addiction. They are at an increased risk of being pushed over their tolerance threshold,” says Moira.
Brittany Dwyer, community education and outreach coordinator with the Mental Health Association of Fauquier County and CAYA board member, states that Mental Health America has seen an up-tick in the number of people completing online screenings for mental health disorders since March.
“Results from these screenings show that great numbers of people are struggling with more serious symptoms of anxiety and depression. At the local level, we know that private providers are reporting an increase in requests for their services.”
Powell Duggan, CAYA board member, shares that “people with a substance abuse disorder may be looking at this as an excuse to use again with the justification,
What else do I have to do?
”
“While we don’t yet know the fallout that COVID19 will have on this community, we are looking at new partnerships to better serve this population,” says Moira.
“We just don’t know how people who have not displayed an addiction disorder are coping with the isolation,” adds Brittany. “And the younger population is already at risk of experimenting with drugs and alcohol simply because of their age and growing independence. We don’t know how they are responding to the uncertainty of their futures.”
While CAYA determines its best steps moving forward, “[it] will continue to be a repository of information,” adds Powell.
