A Parlour for a Plague

Not just dts but keeping people who were, and are increasingly self-medicating, from having more psych breaks. Folks unable and/or unable to access regular support services need the liquor stores. Some agencies supporting psych patients have been requesting low dollar amount liquor store gift cards as donations.

I can see the sense in that

So this morning I heard on the radio that South Africa has a ban on alcohol - I guess they do not consider it an essential business and in this report they were saying how some people broke into a funeral home to get what is their equivalent of embalming fluid as it is 97% alcohol - which using it would end up killing you.

In any case I went to search and see if I could find it - but what I found was much more interesting.

"More than 5,000 fewer admissions to trauma units per week can be attributed to the alcohol ban, according to Charles Parry, director of alcohol research at the South African Medical Research Council. The council’s data also shows a decrease in excess deaths in South Africa, suggesting that the lockdown, with its alcohol ban and decrease in vehicle use, may have saved the lives of more South Africans than the 186 that the coronavirus is confirmed to have killed so far."

"Many countries, including the United States, are seeing a spike in excess deaths that outpaces even the confirmed number of deaths attributed to the coronavirus."

full article -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/south-africa-coronavirus-lockdown-alcohol-ban/2020/05/09/a2b964a2-8eef-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html

Isn't SA where a man was beaten to death for having alcohol in the home?

I have no idea.

I am just saying this is an interesting article - especially whereas we are surmising one reason that in the US it is considered an essential business is so we do not have an influx of people going to the hospital with DTs. And this report is saying the US is instead having more alcohol related deaths than COVID as a result. And South Africa is showing less - Now I am not saying this is necessarily accurate or if there could be anything else underlying ---

Just finding it interesting and worth a read to dig deeper.

Linkat, that report does not say that at all.
In fact the report does not even mention alcohol once.

What it Does say is:

Those excess deaths — the number beyond what would normally be expected for that time of year — are not necessarily attributable directly to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They could include people with unrelated maladies who avoided hospitals for fear of being exposed or who couldn’t get the care they needed from overwhelmed health systems, as well as some number of deaths that are part of the ordinary variation in the death rate. The number is affected by increases or decreases in other categories of deaths, such as traffic fatalities and homicides.

and

The fact that the picture of overall death during that period changed so substantially this week underlines how real-time counts of covid-19 deaths are only a partial snapshot.

Honestly? I have no idea why that link was even provided in the article about South Africa. It has nothing to do with the subject.

I have both empathy and sympathy for people who are either so addicted to alcohol they might be one of the small number that goes into DT's.
They also might not be able to obtain their needed counseling or meds, and would need small amounts of alcohol to control their symptoms.

But in the real world, if someone can't get alcohol and would be one of the few that would go into DTs (and remember, only a small percentage of people going through alcohol withdrawl go into DTs), they will either smoke some weed, or get some other drug to take on their own to suppress the symptoms.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that if you drink that much alcohol, you more than likely are also taking other stuff too.

Also, let's weigh in on the other deaths that occur due to alcohol use.

Backing up first, I had cited in an earlier post that the higher number of people experiecing DTs in the US a year is 70K. I just look it up, and 4% of those people die from that.

So even if all 70K people who would get DTs if they stopped drinking, couldn't find a convenience store that sells beer, can't get it from a friend, etc etc. ALL got the DTs at the same time, about 3000 would die

But in the real world, many of them would somehow get ahold of alcohol, or take something else that would prevent them.

Contrast that to over 10,000 dying each year in car accidents that involved alcohol.
Also, what about other accidents that results in death because a person was drunk? Boating accidents, drowning, shootings, falls and many more.

The points made by everyone are valid. However, we don't live in a vacuum where we only have to concern ourselves with the priority of keeping liquor stores open because DTs, or someone who can't get mental health assistance, and requires a bit of alcohol to keep it in the road.

I'm wondering how many people are walking around alive right now because they weren't killed by a drunk driver in the last few months, or shot/beaten to death etc. That leads to how many people didn't experience the loss of the primary breadwinner, caregiver, child.

Not tossing them by the wayside, but if someone is that far compromised that they would not only get, but die of DTs, they are also sick and impaired in so many other ways that are not compatible with life in general.

<shrugs> liquor stores are open. I've got no dog in this hunt. My opinion is it is a near pure money passing hands decision. If the reason "people will get DTs, they need it to dose other mental issues" is enough to keep liquor stores open, ok.

This is the quote from the article I am referring to. Right there it says it is seeing a spike in excess deaths that outpaces even confirmed number of deaths to coronavirus.

Unless I am misunderstanding what they are getting at since they were just speaking of alcohol related traumas in the paragraph before.

I think the relationship they are getting between the two - is an inference that SA's alcohol related deaths have gone down whereas the US has gone up.

They are not showing any actual stats on it - but like I said it is interesting read

I am not even necessarily what they are stating throughout this article is accurate - I am just saying it is an interesting read and gives food for thought.

Yes. That's the quote I was referring to linkat.

When you click on the link to the full story, it's nothing about alcohol, at all.

I have no idea why they posted it, because unless you look, the assumption is it's about cases where people died because they couldn't get booze.

But then you think, wait a minute, how are there 13,500 deaths from alcohol withdrawl in a few weeks. That makes no sense.

As far as I'm concerned, there was no reason they should have put the link in the article, as it's totally unrelated.
What I had in blue in the other post was from that article.

Yes indeed, it has given me food for thought.

I'm thinking of the balance between taking care of the few people that do need hospitalization as far as DT's, as opposed to people who didn't need to go to the hospital at because they weren't somehow involved in a home or car accident where alcohol was involved. Not just accidents involving death, but accidently cutting yourself, falling down stairs or other, and all the other dumb ass **** drunks do. I'm including myself in that. I have this scar on my wrist that looks like I tried to kill myself. Nope, just falling down stairs and ripping myself up pretty good grabbing the banister. I might have broken something or worse if I hadn't done that. I got a hundred stories like that. I was great for narrowly avoid cutting a finger off while cooking.
But I digress.

I didn't even realize there was a link to another article? That is really weird.

I have read a bit about "deaths of despair" related to longer term isolation - these include unemployment, depression, mental illness, increased drug and alcohol abuse

These are of particular interest because of my daughter's anxiety. She has been a bit more upbeat because of hearing the plans of slowly opening things up. It is almost a full time job trying to keep her positive.

I've read a bit about some of her challenges, Linkat. It's a worry, and I'm sorry she's having a hard time of things lately. It must be exhausting for you, too, and I hope she comes through it ok.

Hang in there mama. Keep yer stick on the ice.

❤

How do you pronounce your username?

I've been reading you as Link At. Hahahaha
Just clued in it's probably Lin Kat. Snork

Thanks - appreciate it.

I had to sit her down and go over her school work - she had all these zeros on assignments because she did not do them. She usually does well - typically an honor roll student - just having a hard time with it all.

We mapped up what she needed to do - and put a deadline on it.

The teachers have been great - they tell me that all the kids are stressed and having a difficult time so they are given more time and they are not holding them to the same strict deadlines as if school was not virtual.

The public schools are not even giving them grades - they just get a pass/fail for the year - some classes are not even being held virtually they are just giving them work to do.

I guess the closest is to say using actual words is:

Lynn Cat

funny how people break up the name differently - I know for some others I have my own pronouncements that I know are not correct - but I think it fits them better.

FYI, just saying this...

This thread has been so engaging, informative, fun, silly and much more for many pages now.

Not one fight.

So respectfully, I wish that whoever is thumbing down post would please stop. This has been a really judgement free zone
Everyone has an equal say.

I tend to hear it in my head as "linket"

Oh! Speaking of hearing things in your head, one's inner dialogue, did you know that some people do not have that? It's called aphantasia

There are several videos on this, people who don't have that inner voice. This is a good one.

I can't wrap my mind around this, can you?

That’s interesting. SA is a country with a huge violence problem, as you would imagine given the terrible trauma of its history.

Oh....that’s all even more interesting

I wonder what stats are showing here in Australia

I’d predict fewer non intimate relationship assaults because those often occur during long drinking sessions in pubs and clubs.

More intimate partner violence, but a big drop in reports of that except possibly from neighbours.

More child abuse but a drop in reporting of that too.

Fewer burglaries because people are at home more, though that’s changing right now here.

Oh, wishing your daughter well Linkat.

Imagine not having the inner dialogue! I can’t! I know my thinking isn’t always words. Especially when I’m problem solving, I often do it in a series of images...or I’m not aware of anything happening then an image of the solution appears...not a clear image, it’s hard to describe.

I’ve always been a poor visualiser....treating anxiety as much as I have I’ve always been stunned at how effective visualisation is for so many people. I’ve used it because the evidence for it as an arrow in the treatment field is there, but it’s been a mystery.

Since doing art training I’m finding my visualisation is much better.

it's all about the porch pirates here. cops just took down one gang that had been plaguing the area and is looking for at least one more group. then there are the individuals. it''s been awful.

about six weeks ago a lot of home reno projects were targeted with a lot of expensive tools stolen. there's no end to the thievery