Overdose Grief

Providers grieving the loss of individuals who they work with who use drugs face a unique experience of bereavement. Social stigma around drug use, the lasting impacts of the war on drugs, and provider-client dynamics can make managing this type of grief more complex than other types of loss. This presentation is suitable for health care and social service providers who work with people who use drugs. Lexi normalizes the non-linear journey of grief, then offers some self-care and community care tips to support coping and moving through this grief.

What’s in an Overdose Grief Presentation?

• Review the applicability and relevance of the “5 Stages of Grief”

• Learn about how grieving and loss is impacted by collective trauma and social stigma

• Review signs and symptoms of grief related to death from overdose or fentanyl poisoning

• Understand overlapping symptoms between overdose grief and vicarious trauma