DEATHS OF DESPAIR
The recent spike in youth mental illness and suicidal ideation alone should be a wake-up call to anyone still clamoring for more COVID-inspired mandates on the youth, but many other unintended consequences of locking down younger populations have also reared their ugly heads. Often called “deaths of despair,” these are those who have succumbed to alcohol abuse, drug addiction, or depression leading to suicide. Over 2020 and 2021 the United States saw significantly more of these cases, the vast majority of whom were under age 60.
Both the US and Maine CDC recorded significant jumps in emergency department (ED) visits for suicide attempts during the pandemic years 2020 and 2021. Overdoses involving fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, are now the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. More Americans aged 16 to 64 died from alcohol-related causes than from COVID-19 over 2020 and the first half of 2021.
There were clear warning signs for state and federal health officials over 2020 and 2021, showing how their pandemic policies contributed to a more sedentary and depressed youth population. Yet, it took the CDC until August of 2022 to advise school children not to miss class because of an exposure to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, nor to be tested themselves if they are not symptomatic. Data has shown for nearly two years that school-aged children face a vanishingly low risk of severe outcomes from a case of COVID-19.
Officials seemingly ignored the unintended consequences of lockdown policies and delayed issuing sensible guidance based on real-world evidence for many more months than necessary.