Voice of America: Is risky pandemic behavior leading to more deaths?
UC expert says some have turned to substance use to deal with pandemic stress
As statistics show increases in fatal traffic accidents and overdoses during the pandemic, experts say the prolonged stress may be causing people to engage in more risky behaviors.
The National Safety Council reports more than 38,000 people died in traffic accidents on American roads during the first year of the pandemic, the highest number since 2007. More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, a record high.
Maria Espinola, PsyD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, told Voice of America that substance abuse has increased during the pandemic.
“A lot of people use alcohol and drugs to cope with the stress that we're experiencing. So, some people were already having issues prior to the pandemic that got worse," she said. "And then some people who had no issues before experienced such high levels of stress that they used substances to cope.”
Read the Voice of America article.
Lead photo of Maria Espinola/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand
Related Stories
CCM welcomes new film and media scoring faculty member J.R. Paredes
May 20, 2026
UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Pete Jutras has announced the appointment of J.R. Paredes as CCM's new Assistant Professor of Film and Media Scoring. His faculty appointment officially begins on Aug. 15, 2026. Paredes is a composer, music producer and audio post-production specialist whose work spans film, television and commercial music. His credits include original scores for feature films and series distributed on platforms such as Apple TV+ and Prime Video, as well as extensive work in sound design and mixing for film and media.
6 ways starting a GLP-1 medication could affect your emotions
May 20, 2026
When patients first start taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication, they probably expect to feel full. But they might not anticipate how it can influence their emotions. The medications act on the stomach and the brain, said Malti Vij, MD, a University of Cincinnati adjunct associate professor in the College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.