The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study last month showing alcohol-related deaths increased by nearly 30% over the past several years and increased in use during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings, which were published in February, indicate deaths from the excessive use of alcohol increased from 137,927 during 2016-17 to 178,307 during 2020-21.

The increase equates to an average of about 488 deaths each day from excessive drinking from 2020 to 2021.

John Neyman, a board-certified therapist in Sarver, said anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic could have caused excessive alcohol use.

“I would think the fear factor created a huge part of it,” he said. “I don’t think people think (much) about alcohol poisoning.”

Deaths from excessive alcohol use included those attributed to conditions that are fully caused by alcohol use, alcohol-related acute causes of death that involved binge drinking, and alcohol-related chronic conditions that involved medium or high average daily levels of alcohol use, according to the CDC.

“Deaths from causes fully attributable to alcohol use have increased during the past two decades in the United States, particularly from 2019 to 2020, concurrent with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the study said.

The CDC attributed the larger numbers to the increased availability of alcohol during the start of the pandemic.

“Policies were widely implemented to expand alcohol carryout and delivery to homes, and places that sold alcohol for off-premise consumption (e.g., liquor stores) were deemed as essential businesses in many states,” the study indicated.

Neyman said could see how these factors would have a negative effect on people’s minds, especially those who already struggle with addiction.

“There (was) more drinking out of boredom, it also raised people’s anxiety levels. People used alcohol for that,” he said. “I think COVID ramped all that up.”

In addition, the CDC attributed delays in medical care, general avoidance of emergency departments for alcohol-related conditions, stress, isolation, and mental conditions to the increase in deaths from excessive alcohol use.

When someone is already in the throes of addiction, an experience like the pandemic only exasperates the problem, Neyman said.

“What alcoholics do is you go in the home or the garage and they have their little stash,” he said. “Then you’re sitting at home watching the news. They’re just trying to calm themselves down.”

This story was updated at 11:20 a.m., Friday, March 15, to reflect John Neyman as a board-certified therapist. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated his designation.