Death By Overdose

Kristal – Harm Reduction

Kristal speaks to the importance of harm reduction and how it can save lives. She discusses how accessing harm reduction leads to the creation of connections with community support. It allows community outreach members to connect with community members and get to know them, and to know to look for them if they don’t see them when they usually do.

Sarah K – Coping

Sarah discusses how she copes with this unbelievably painful loss

Kristal – Poetry, Comedy, & Art for Grieving

Kristal discusses using poetry and other forms of creative expression as a distraction from her grief and to disassociate in a safe and productive way. She discusses grief being love with nowhere to go, so she puts it into art.

Kate – Time to process

Kate shares about time and processing her grief especially during COVID

Kate – Miracle baby

Kate shares about her brothers daughter being born after he had died

Kristal – Attending Memorials as a Support Worker

Kristal discusses the importance of finding ways to honour people that have been lost and how they have impacted you. She speaks to how she often chooses not to attend public memorials for those she has lost as a support worker as they are often very overwhelming. Instead, she has her own personal rituals or ways of honouring those she has lost personally including opening a window. She discusses how this practice was used when she worked in palliative care.

Krista – “My wish”

Krista discusses why she thinks helping others is important. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Krista – “Things you can do that help”

Krista shares some of the things that help her through the grieving process.

Kristal – Drug Poisoning During Pandemic Stigma

Kristal discusses how the pandemic has created additional stigma surrounding those who use drugs. She dissuses how it seems like some losses are treated as more deserving of being mourned than others. Many people have had to grieve privately instead of publically within a community. She touches on the state of the public health system during the pandemic.

Krista – “How I dealt with it”

Krista talks about how she dealt with underlying issues. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Kate – Trust and listening

Kate – explains how having someone you trust is super important so that you can have a space space to go to

Christian – “Overdose Death”

Christian talks about an overdose death not defining who that person was.