Death By Overdose

Kristal – Activism To Ease Anger and Grief

Kristal discusses using activism to help ease or channel her anger from the loss of those in her community to drug poisoning. She talks about her grief being very quiet and inward before, but that taking action helps her to move through it. She discusses how there may not be peace from these losses, but the goal should rather be feeling safe in the emotions.

Joyce -The pandemics impact on drug poisonings

Joyce talks about drug poisonings during the pandemic

Sarah K – Coping

Sarah discusses how she copes with this unbelievably painful loss

Kate – My art and my brother

Kate talks about being an artist and expression through art can remind her of her brothers encouragement

Sarah K – Finding my people

Sarah talks about how finding other people that are going through the same grief experience has been very helpful to her.

Krista – “It’s ok to be uncomfortable”

Krista discusses ways to move forward.

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.

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 – “Dealing with it”

Krista tells about the differences people have in dealing with it. Krista continues to grieve the death of her son from opioid overdose.

Sarah K – Trauma therapy

Sarah explains how she felt broken after her husband’s death to overdose and how grief therapy helped her untangle all the feelings that came from such an unexpected death

Kristal – Anger with Grief

Kristal discusses finding ways to channel her anger due to poor policy leading to deaths from drug poisoning and those individuals not having the support they needed. She discusses how human beings have the right to be flawed and should have the ability to grow, heal, and change.