Americans started drinking more during the pandemic, and a new study shows that lasted for years

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths, and new research suggests drinking didn’t stop as things returned to normal. 

In the study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found drinking increases from 2018 to 2020 persisted into 2022.

The population-based study used data from adults 18 years and older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 2018 to 2022. The survey, which used complex sampling, was nationally representative and had more than 20,000 respondents each year.

“Potential causes of this sustained increase include normalization of and adaptation to increased drinking due to stress from the pandemic and disrupted access to medical services,” the authors wrote. 

Regardless of cause, the findings highlight an “alarming public health issue,” the authors note, as alcohol is a leading cause of illness and death in the United States.

Dr. Divya Ayyala, with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, told CBS News more patients are coming in with alcohol-related health problems like severe liver disease. 

“Originally, the increase in drinking was due to social isolation, disruption and daily activity and general lack of accessibility to healthcare and mental healthcare during a really stressful time,” Ayyala said. “However, we’re seeing that these trends are sustained, meaning that either people don’t know where to get help (or) they don’t know that they need help.”