Page 27 - BusinessWest October 26, 2020

Glass Half Full
COVID-19 Poses Challenges for Substance-abuse Clients, Providers
By MarkEMorris
ach October, as the weather becomes colder and the days get shorter, it’s not unusual to see an increase in demand
for substance-abuse services due to seasonal depression. This fall, however, counselors are expecting an even larger spike in the need for their services because of COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, treat- ment centers in Massachusetts have seen an increase in opioid-related overdoses in the patients they treat — a problem exacerbated by the fact that the drugs have become more dan- gerous, said Steve Winn, president and CEO of Behavioral Health Network (BHN).
Health professionals believe the problem stems from interruptions in the worldwide sup- ply chain of illegal drugs, making it harder to get heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl. As a result, what is being sold as pure heroin is often mixed with a more lethal type of fentanyl, caus- ing the increase in overdoses and deaths.
“We don’t know if use is up, but we know the repercussions of use are more serious now than they were a year ago,” Winn told BusinessWest. “In 2018 and 2019, Massachusetts had begun to flatten the curve on opioid overdoses, but now that curve has accelerated up.”
It’s not a regional problem, he added, as the most recent data shows opioid deaths up in
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People with substance-use disorders often
have a co-occurring mental-health diagnosis, a situation that may increase their COVID-19 risk, said Millie Rivas, clinical supervisor for Out-
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