Statewide Iowa — There were more “substance misuse” deaths across the country during 2020 than in any other single year, according to a report from a nonprofit, nonpartisan group, though Iowa’s numbers were slightly less grim.
Rhea Farberman, policy research director at Trust for America’s Health, says Iowa’s overall figures were slightly below the national average.
Deaths associated with alcohol, drugs and suicide took the lives of more than 186-thousand Americans in 2020, what the report says is a 20-percent one-year increase in the combined death rate. Farberman says most of Iowa’s results were under national figures, but there were still tragic increases. She adds, “behind each of these statistics is a grieving family.”
The stresses brought on by the rise of COVID-19 are being blamed for some of the records numbers, but she says that’s not the only reason for the increase in deaths.
The pandemic brought anxiety, stress, grief and financial hardship to many, and it also led to a disruption in substance misuse recovery programs.
The first year the report was issued, 2018, there were more than 55-thousand deaths nationwide attributed to drugs, alcohol and suicide. For 2020, that figure more than tripled to nearly 187-thousand. See the full report at:
https://www.tfah.org/report-details/pain-in-the-nation-2022/
