A treatment centre in Derry says it has seen a 50 per cent drop in the number of people seeking help for alcohol or drug addictions during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Northlands Addiction Treatment Centre has compared attendance figures to this time last year.
It says the results are “very concerning”, as alcohol sales have surged during the same period.
Tommy Canning, who is head of treatment at the centre, says he believes the drop in numbers is because some people are “afraid to come out of their homes”.
And he says that people may also mistakenly believe the service is closed during to the pandemic.
Mr Canning stresses that the service is still open to those who need it and urged anyone experiencing issues to come forward and seek the help they need.
“I’m worried about what is coming down the track,” Mr Canning told BBC Radio Foyle.
Mr Canning believes that we will see a “tsunami of mental health” issues post-lockdown.
And he says we will then see a rise in alcohol and drugs misuse.
“There will no doubt be an increase” in cases and “we need to be prepared for that,” Mr Canning adds.
As pubs are shut, people have been turning to off licences for alcohol.
In April off-licence sales also continued to increase, rising by 2.3 per cent after a 23.9 per cent jump in March.
