Drug Poisoning & the Pandemic

Drug Poisoning & the Pandemic Playlists

View video playlists related to specific topics, including both participants and grief professionals. Use the controls at the top-left to navigate videos within playlist.

Grief Stories features short videos, podcast interviews, and blog posts offering ideas for coping with grief. The tools and activities on this website are intended to be used as a resource for people who are grieving, those who are supporting grievers and healthcare professionals. The information provided is NOT meant to be a substitute for professional therapy.

All content, including our videos, is vetted by health care experts.

They were here.

Experiencing loss during the pandemic includes all the usual challenges of grief. It also involves navigating ongoing changes and uncertainty that impacts how we honour and remember someone who has died. The stigma associated with drug use can complicate finding connection in times of grief even more.

From increased service restrictions when it comes to accessing harm reduction, shelter, and healthcare, to finding new ways to honour lost loved ones as communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has put even more pressure on those impacted by the opioid crisis. At the same time, we're coping with anxiety and other struggles in our day-to-day lives brought on by the realities of the pandemic. It's complex and it's a lot.

At Grief Stories, we're grateful for the support of Northumberland United Way in creating supportive content for those experiencing loss related to substance use and drug poisoning during the pandemic.

Content Funded By

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Northumberland United Way

We are thankful for the Northumberland United Way Grant Funding that was distributed to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in our community.

Drug Poisoning & The Pandemic-Related Blog

a field of daisies

Beauty found at the edges: a portrait of community support

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I’d sent a text saying “Hello friends, I’m putting out a call for flowers. I went to public school with Kory, the young man who died in downtown Cobourg this week, and though I hadn’t seen him in recent years, I feel the loss of him on a community level, as I imagine you do, too. Some of Kory’s people are gathering tonight in vigil at the bank where he died, and I’m gathering flowers from those of us who have gardens to share with this grieving community. Do you have some blooms in your garden that you’d be willing to share?”

a marsh in Temagami with lillypads in the water and sparse trees sticking out of it

Thoughts on International Overdose Awareness Day 2023

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We lead multifaceted lives, and the deaths of those we love who have died by drug poisoning contain multitudes. The death of a loved one can bring intense grief, shock, anger, shame, or guilt. People who use drugs, and those who love them that they leave behind, face stigma in North America’s dominant, settler culture.

purple flowers in a green field

A Million Other Things: Grieving a Drug Poisoning Death

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Sister, father, son, niece, best friend – some of these words might be how you would describe your loved one who has died of an overdose or drug poisoning. People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) are not defined by their substance use – they are a million other things to those who love and miss them dearly. Drug poisoning and overdose deaths are stigmatized in our society. The focus is on how the person died, not who they are. Society still holds onto old notions and beliefs about drugs which come with a value judgment about people who use drugs, which further contributes to stigma. Not everyone who uses drugs is an addict and not all drug use is inherently problematic. People who use drugs deserve dignity and respect when we are remembering and honouring those who have died by overdose or drug poisoning.

Drug Poisoning & The Pandemic-Related Videos

ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS
  • ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS

Kristal – Attending Memorials as a Support Worker

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.

Nicole – Stigma Surrounding Drug Use

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.

Kate – Getting support

Kate – Getting support

Kate talks about how difficult it is to ask for support

Nicole – Working in Community Outreach

Nicole – Working in Community Outreach

Nicole discusses her work in community outreach and how she has lived experience with addiction and living rough.

Kristal – Anger with Grief

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.

Christian – COVID amplified the inequities in society

Christian – COVID amplified the inequities in society

Christian talks about those that have very little and how COVID amplified their difficulties

Kate – Time to process

Kate – Time to process

Kate shares about time and processing her grief especially during COVID

Kate – Trust and listening

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

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

Kristal discusses being a peer support worker, 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.

Kristal – The Value of all Those Lost

Kristal – The Value of all Those Lost

Kristal emphasizes that the lives of those lost to drug poisoning had value, they were an opportunity that was lost, and that the community is missing so much in their absence.