Since the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring, people have been drinking more and more alcohol.
Experts warn of the potential for addiction.
Taufkirchen / Dorfen
- Prosecco lifts the mood, red wine calms the nerves, and vodka lemon helps against loneliness.
The pandemic has increased alcohol consumption, and more people have been using bottles since then.
Addiction experts in Dorfen and the surrounding area have observed this.
The Christmas days are over, New Year's Eve is just around the corner.
Time to take stock at the end of the year.
"2020 was a very difficult year for almost everyone," says Taufkirchen psychotherapist Klaus Gering.
And nobody knows when it will get better.
Because: The lockdown will remain beyond the turn of the year.
"And with it stress, worry and uncertainty."
A glass of honor as a reward for surviving another day in the pandemic?
Or two, or three?
Anyone who has always relied on alcohol as a “problem solver” is now particularly at risk of slipping into addiction.
"The line between 'I'll treat myself to a schnapps' and 'I need a schnapps' is damn thin," says addiction specialist Gering.
Corona has significantly promoted consumer behavior, says Thomas Pölsterl, head of the Erdinger addiction advice center Prop eV. "Boredom, lack of social contacts, frustrations from closed offices or no opportunities for compensation in leisure time and in sport", these are the reasons why people drink more often and more the psychotherapist enumerates.
Prop eV has an external consultation hour at Johannisplatz in the Caritas offices in Dorfen.
In the corona crisis, however, very practical problems also increased in many families: “Job loss or short-time work, for example.
Visits to authorities and doctors are becoming more difficult, ”says Pölsterl.
Many of those affected do not seek help because they mistakenly assume that the addiction counseling center has closed.
"In the hard lockdown we switched to telephone and videophone appointments again." But Pölsterl fears: "Some alcoholics believe that this difficult time is not the right time to tackle the addiction problem."
The current pandemic situation also requires increased effort in Taufkirchen's Isar-Amper-Klinikum, explains senior physician Dr.
Christian Brisch.
A good 800 dependent patients start withdrawal from alcohol and drugs here every year.
Brisch refers to a study in the "Deutsches Ärzteblatt" that relates to the first wave and the lockdown in spring.
"The Covid-19 pandemic is an ideal breeding ground for addictions," it says.
Why more addicts drift away or why a number of dry alcoholics relapse is due to “a reduced possibility of outpatient care”, says the senior doctor: “Even if many self-help organizations and groups have online offers, these are only a makeshift from a medical point of view , cannot completely replace actual personal contact in the group. "
An example from the social counseling work of Caritas in Dorfen shows what reality looks like for some.
Social worker Brigitte Fischer looks after the W family. Corona means that the couple are on short-time work, and their income is reduced from one day to the next to 67 percent.
Despite child benefit, it is getting very tight.
The family lives very rural and is dependent on two cars, otherwise the parents cannot come to work.
Every repair tears a hole in the household budget.
The children go to school, due to the lockdown they have to do homeschooling, the parents are overwhelmed with support due to their existential fears.
Mr. W. is a dry alcoholic, the lockdown demands everything from him, reports Fischer.
But a relapse is by no means programmed, so addiction consultant Pölsterl.
“A lot of dry alcoholics are happy about their abstinence right now.” By this he means that they cannot maintain their frustration tolerance, problem solving, communication and conflict skills in the event of a relapse.
"They know that they can't work when they drink - and that's why they stay clean."
Michaele Heske
