Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic

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.

Christian – Autonomy for the homeless

Christian discusses those who are unhoused and how they want a space that is theirs and how we need to take that seriously especially when it comes to grief

Nicole – Stigma Surrounding Drug Use

Nicole discusses how the stigma around drug use has an impact on how people feel able to grieve when those in their community are lost.

Kristal – Lack of Memorials During Pandemic

Kristal talks about how memorials can offer closure to people who are grieving, find a community, and share stories. With the absence of this during the pandemic, many people turned inward to grieve or isolated, which can create safety issues and have an impact on mental health. She speaks to how this leads to depression, physical pain, and it compounds upon itself.

Kate – My story

Kate tells her story of being away when her brother died of an opioid overdose

Kate – COVID and grieving with my parents

Kate shares about how COVID was stress on top of dealing with the loss of her brother

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

Nicole – Pandemic’s Effect on Grieving as a Community

Nicole discusses the ways the pandemic has affected the way people grieve as a community.

Nicole – Using Art and Creativity to Express Grief

Nicole discusses the work she does to allow access to creative outlets such as art hives and gardening.

Kate – Things I do that help

Kate talks about how art, hiking and visiting the cemetery can be very therapeutic

Kate – Time to process

Kate shares about time and processing her grief especially during COVID