Death By Overdose

Nicole – Advice for Other Professionals Managing Grief

Nicole discusses dealing with repeated loss while working in community outreach, not being afraid to be human.

Joyce -The pandemics impact on drug poisonings

Joyce talks about drug poisonings during the pandemic

Krista – “Exercise to get it out”

Krista tells how she releases stress through kickboxing. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

Kristal discusses being a peer support woker, working on a one on one level with community members to help them with their goals related to substance abuse. She supports those in the community dealing with loss and grief. She speaks to everyone’s experience with loss and grief being very individual.

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.

Kristal – Story of Lived Experience

Kristal discusses experiencing homelessness at multiple stages of her life and how that informs her work as a peer support worker. It gives her an understanding of the nuance that surrounds the community. She uses this experience to support people who are experiencing grief related to death from drug poisoning.

Krista – “How a counsellor helps”

Krista explains how a grief counsellor has helped.

Sarah K – Talking about the cause of death

Sarah talks about husbands death to a heroin overdose and stigmatized death.

Kristal – Grieving the Whole Person

Kristal discusses the importance of recognizing and grieving the entire person who was lost – not just who they were before they had been using drugs.

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.

Christian – “Stigma of opioid death”

Christian talks about the social acceptance of an opioid overdose.