The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Changes in recreational drug use, reasons for those changes and their consequence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Changes in recreational drug use, reasons for those changes and their consequence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK
Changes in recreational drug use, reasons for those changes and their consequence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Changes in drug use in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic and their long-term consequences are not well understood. We employed natural language processing and machine learning to analyse a large dataset of self-reported rates of and reasons for drug use during the pandemic, along with their associations with anxiety, depression and substance use problems post-pandemic. Our findings revealed a transient decrease in drug use at the pandemic's peak, primarily attributed to reduced social opportunities. Conversely, some participants reported increased drug use for self-medication, boredom, and lifestyle disruptions. While users of psychedelics and MDMA had anxiety and depression rates similar to non-users, users of opioid agonists and depressants—representing one in ten active drug users—reported greater mental health challenges post-pandemic. These results suggest that a subset of active drug users with distinct profiles faces elevated risks, particularly for anxiety and depression, and may benefit from targeted support.

Benzodiazepines, COVID-19, Large scale survey, Longitudinal research, MDMA, Mental health, Natural language processing, Opioids, Psychedelics, Recreational drug use
0010-440X
Bălăeţ, Maria
93e74c3a-9dad-46b9-8fe0-080c6ed396bc
Zadel, Ana
ad01b211-2cf0-43df-9798-8c4e47d38c1a
Lingford-Hughes, Anne
0906e538-7ef1-498a-8d02-8850ff3f01e0
Paterson, Louise M.
134b4f45-248d-42b9-af18-f7a370818a0a
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
8a0e09e6-f51f-4039-9287-88debe8d8b6f
Trender, William
a46c0a3d-b870-42df-b488-f5ca08ab6129
Hellyer, Peter J.
97977890-09fa-4cfc-b228-6b6f9b5eccb2
Hampshire, Adam
892aff92-db76-471b-9c14-13de45631f7a
Bălăeţ, Maria
93e74c3a-9dad-46b9-8fe0-080c6ed396bc
Zadel, Ana
ad01b211-2cf0-43df-9798-8c4e47d38c1a
Lingford-Hughes, Anne
0906e538-7ef1-498a-8d02-8850ff3f01e0
Paterson, Louise M.
134b4f45-248d-42b9-af18-f7a370818a0a
Chamberlain, Samuel R.
8a0e09e6-f51f-4039-9287-88debe8d8b6f
Trender, William
a46c0a3d-b870-42df-b488-f5ca08ab6129
Hellyer, Peter J.
97977890-09fa-4cfc-b228-6b6f9b5eccb2
Hampshire, Adam
892aff92-db76-471b-9c14-13de45631f7a

Bălăeţ, Maria, Zadel, Ana, Lingford-Hughes, Anne, Paterson, Louise M., Chamberlain, Samuel R., Trender, William, Hellyer, Peter J. and Hampshire, Adam (2025) Changes in recreational drug use, reasons for those changes and their consequence during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 140, [152598]. (doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2025.152598).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Changes in drug use in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic and their long-term consequences are not well understood. We employed natural language processing and machine learning to analyse a large dataset of self-reported rates of and reasons for drug use during the pandemic, along with their associations with anxiety, depression and substance use problems post-pandemic. Our findings revealed a transient decrease in drug use at the pandemic's peak, primarily attributed to reduced social opportunities. Conversely, some participants reported increased drug use for self-medication, boredom, and lifestyle disruptions. While users of psychedelics and MDMA had anxiety and depression rates similar to non-users, users of opioid agonists and depressants—representing one in ten active drug users—reported greater mental health challenges post-pandemic. These results suggest that a subset of active drug users with distinct profiles faces elevated risks, particularly for anxiety and depression, and may benefit from targeted support.

Text
1-s2.0-S0010440X25000252-main - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (3MB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 15 April 2025
Published date: 1 July 2025
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
Keywords: Benzodiazepines, COVID-19, Large scale survey, Longitudinal research, MDMA, Mental health, Natural language processing, Opioids, Psychedelics, Recreational drug use

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 503423
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503423
ISSN: 0010-440X
PURE UUID: 8ed2ea18-c085-4ccc-acc6-189470fd0991
ORCID for Samuel R. Chamberlain: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-8121

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 31 Jul 2025 16:45
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:29

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Maria Bălăeţ
Author: Ana Zadel
Author: Anne Lingford-Hughes
Author: Louise M. Paterson
Author: Samuel R. Chamberlain ORCID iD
Author: William Trender
Author: Peter J. Hellyer
Author: Adam Hampshire

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×