August 30, 2024 • 28 mins
Hello listeners! We're back today to honor a very important day in the recovery community: Overdose Awareness Day. This is a global event held every year on August 31st to help prevent drug overdoses by raising awareness, reducing stigma, and recognizing the grief of those who have lost loved ones to overdose. We're thrilled to bring you a few members of the RCA Alumni team talk through the importance of Overdose Awareness Day when it comes to reducing stigma and raising awareness about the disease of addiction. Tune in today to honor those we've lost to overdose, and those who are fighting to break the stigma.
*The views and opinions expressed by the guests of this podcast are their own and not necessarily those of RCA. These interviews are personal testimonials of recovery and should not be considered medical or treatment advice.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello listeners, welcome to the Strength in Recovery podcast.
(00:19):
August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day, leading up and it ushers in September,
which is recovery month.
And so today we really felt like it was important to discuss overdose, discuss overdose awareness,
how do you help someone who maybe is experienced an overdose or someone who's loved one has
(00:44):
passed from overdose.
So I have an incredible panel of guests today.
We'll start with Jill Showers.
She's a senior alumni coordinator from Lighthouse, which is in May's Landing, New Jersey.
I also have our senior alumni coordinator, Marguerite Warner.
She's from our Raritan Bay location located in South Amboy, New Jersey.
(01:07):
We have Jill DeMayo, manager of alumni and family engagement.
She is also a certified family recovery specialist.
Jill Robinson, she's our alumni coordinator from our Danvers location in Massachusetts
right outside of Boston.
And then another Massachusetts individual, Peter Gregory, for participating with us today,
(01:31):
alumni coordinator from Westminster, Massachusetts.
So thank you all for being here.
I know this is a topic that hits close to home, something all of us who work in recovery
are very passionate about.
So I'm going to just go to Marguerite first to kind of open the discussion.
If you might talking a little bit about what is overdose awareness, why do we need a day
(01:56):
to talk about this?
Sure, Jay.
Hello, everybody.
So basically, like the recognition of overdose awareness day has multiple facets to it.
One is to acknowledge those who have lost someone to the disease of addiction through
overdose.
But it's also really important to recognize those who are out there still sick and suffering
(02:22):
in silence and don't have the courage to reach out and actually speak to what's going on
with them.
Like, the main purpose in this process is really, if we talk about overdose, there's
a possibility you could save another human being's life.
Rather than finding shame or feeling it's a weakness and will, or perhaps like I've
(02:46):
often heard that, you know, poor moral character, it has nothing to do with that.
This is a disease.
Addiction is a disease.
And when we are, you know, in dealing with people, not only our families and our friends
and our loved ones, but anyone in our community, talking about this brings an awareness to
the community.
(03:08):
And it begins to break what we call the stigma, right, breaking the stigma of addiction.
There's a few things that I participated in to bring awareness to overdose awareness
day.
A couple of them were purple flag ceremonies.
So if you see different municipal buildings, different school buildings, what they'll do
is they'll put out purple flags on their lawn and it's to signify the amount of people
(03:32):
during a set period of time in that community that were lost and reported as lost to overdose.
And it's really to bring an awareness of the impact that this has on our community, you
know, young and old.
And that's the beginning of it, right, talking about it, having that awareness of it.
There's multiple different walks that you can participate in wearing different, you
(03:55):
know, apparel or attire that state break the stigma, right, you know, speak about this,
talk about this, give your addiction a voice.
So that's what we really encourage, right, is to bring this awareness to it.
And the key indicators and signs and things that I'm sure you're going to have the, you
know, the teen years speak to about what do we look for?
(04:18):
How do we support this, right?
Not only do how do we support the person struggling and suffering with the addiction, but how
do we support the family members that are going through, you know, the traumatic experience
that they have had?
It's really great.
And I think as we've gone through as a country, the overdose epidemic, the opioid epidemic,
(04:42):
which has led to a crisis.
And there's not one family that I know of who hasn't been personally touched in some
way.
And how do you come to terms with kind of, we all work in recovery, there's usually some
sort of connection that we have to either overdose or substance use.
(05:06):
Would either any of you like to jump in there and talk about how this has hit home?
So, yeah, so I have lost many people to overdoses.
I got sober about eight years ago and have been going to the rooms ever since, you know,
the rooms of AA, NA, narcotics anonymous, alcoholics anonymous, and these 12 step groups
(05:31):
that I could, in the beginning, any 12 step group that I could get into, it's where I
felt safe.
And we, I have, in developing bonds together in those rooms, you know, unfortunately, not
everybody makes it, right?
Not everybody continues to come and sees, you know, the 12 steps as a way out.
(05:55):
And we lose people very quickly.
But like I've had loss, you know, in my family as well.
And I truly love, I know it sounds weird to say, but I love overdose awareness day because
my mom, you know, I work in treatment and I go to, you know, 12 step meetings and I
(06:17):
get to speak with people who, you know, don't blink twice when I say, you know, my family
member died of an overdose, right?
My mom is not as comfortable saying that, you know, my family members are not as comfortable
saying that.
So this gives them one day to be able to be around a bunch of people that she can finally
(06:40):
say, you know, they can finally say, you know, my, I lost, I lost this person, you know what
I mean?
I lost this family member, I lost the person that was, you know, a piece of me, I lost
a piece of me to this disease that nobody wants to talk about or that we don't want to,
you know, draw attention to because we feel shame that it happened, right?
(07:00):
And, you know, it happened to my family or it happened to me or it happened, you know,
like it was something that, you know, came down and it was like a plague on our house,
you know, and I've gotten to see so many family members and so many of the people that
I've had being able to make a lot of connections with just be able to speak their loved ones
(07:27):
names and I've come, you know, into contact with a lot of people who feel the same way
where, you know, they have a place to talk about it and they have people around them
who understand at that point or even if they don't understand that they're in the same
boat, they're not understanding why this happened together.
And, you know, and it's usually in a big beautiful way with, you know, remembrance banners and
(07:51):
things like that.
I absolutely love being able to attend these events and things like that.
You know, we were doing a recovery walk with a couple of nonprofits through Lighthouse,
you know, in finding different events for Lighthouse to be able to do.
I love being able to help out with events like that.
(08:13):
So we are going to be walking the boardwalk up and down, you know, with RCA as a whole
with some of our business development team and we get to spread awareness and break stigma
together on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
So that'll be upcoming with Lighthouse.
That is so beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharing and I think it's important, like you said, for people to just
(08:38):
have a place to have a day to be able to share openly, you know, if someone was diagnosed
with diabetes or cancer, you don't have that same sort of stigma or shame that's intertwined
so closely like it is with this disease.
Jill Robinson, talk to us a little bit about your experience.
(09:00):
Hi, everybody.
Thank you for having me and inviting me to participate in this.
One thing that I mean, as somebody who is a grateful recovering addict, I have my own
experiences with overdose.
But since entering the field, I feel like I've been more impacted by that on a personal
(09:24):
and professional level.
You know, we've lost patients and not only have we lost patients early on in my career
at RCA, we lost a colleague that was very dear to me.
That was a huge impact on my treatment here and really helped propel me into a life in
(09:48):
recovery and about three months into my tenure at RCA, we lost her to an overdose.
And that really smacked me in the face that loss because it made me really be more aware
and more mindful of the fact that those of us who are in personal recovery, even though,
(10:14):
you know, regardless of how many years we have, this person had, I think, close to a
decade, we are still vulnerable to that.
And by taking on the traumas of our patients on a daily basis, if we're not really, if
(10:35):
we don't practice our own, whatever our own personal recovery is on a daily basis and
really check ourselves to make sure that, you know, the work we do isn't impacting our
lives in a negative way that, you know, we can find ourselves in those positions.
And I, you know, take every opportunity I can to honor my colleague because she was so
(11:00):
instrumental in her memory, lives on every day in the halls of RCA Danvers.
And we really try to honor her by continuing to do good work and continuing to be advocates
and continuing to break stigma.
One thing that I was thinking about as you guys were talking is the obituaries that we
(11:20):
see in the paper and how they're usually worded.
And it's usually, you know, somebody, you know, a younger person, and it says something
like died suddenly or died unexpectedly.
And I get why the families don't want to necessarily attach the stigma of this disease to that,
(11:40):
to their loved one who they've lost in that obituary.
But at the same time, I've started to also see people talk about the disease in their
loved ones obituary and honor that and honor their row to recovery and the fact that, you
(12:02):
know, they may have, and I don't like to say the word lost their battle, but succumbed
to their disease, but talk about the connections that they were able to make when they were
in recovery and the causes that they stood for and put faces to all the nameless that
we've lost as a result of, especially as a result of the opioid epidemic.
(12:27):
In 2023 in Massachusetts, we lost 2,125 confirmed opioid related deaths.
It's the first year and I think over a decade where that number dropped 10%, which is great.
It's just a great trend.
We'll see if that trend continues in 2024.
(12:48):
But that's still over 2,000 lives, 2,000 young lives that were not able to kind of come to
the fruition and really be able to experience the gifts that recovery offer.
And I think that we would be to not have a day to honor those people, it's not have a
(13:10):
day when those families feel safe to honor these people and say, you know, this is a
tangible life that was lost as a result of this epidemic and celebrate them for the lives
that they were able to lead, even if it was shortened.
But just to start breaking stigma, like we're seeing purple ribbons, you know, splattered
(13:31):
across our, you know, telephone poles and, you know, and people wear t-shirts that promote
overdosed awareness.
I think that we're on a trend where we can stop breaking that stigma and start making
families be more comfortable to say this person was another casualty of this epidemic.
(13:53):
And we need to continue to work even harder to make resources be available to these people.
We got to continue to hand out knock-hand.
We have to, you know, we're seeing naloxone boxes, like, you know, you know, come up in
our communities and that's, you know, although some people have a really, you know, they
might, you know, struggle with being able to be okay with those types of things.
(14:14):
I think we need to continue to fight for the people that we have lost and fight for the
people who are still here struggling to get a foothold in recovery because that's how
we're going to change.
That's how we're going to change the stigmas that are associated with this disease.
That's so good.
I mean, just really good stuff.
(14:34):
And I do think this just really touches all of us who work in recovery.
And I think the amount of colleagues, the amount of patients, sometimes that we lose,
can make the, you know, it makes us passionate about the work for sure, but it does take
(14:55):
an individual toll.
And thank you for bringing that to mind.
Peter, talk to us a little bit.
Yeah, I'm just, you know, the word stigma has popped up a few times and I'm just looking
at the progress we've made as a country, as just where we are today with the fact that
we talk about it, that we have, you know, overdose awareness day, we have, we're just
(15:19):
more educated and the progress in overall is growing.
And I think that is huge because, you know, back in the day, you know, when I was a young
teenager, it was, you know, here, no evil, see no evil and people didn't talk about
it, you know, we all know somebody with an addiction, with an, you know, with alcoholism.
(15:43):
And it's, I think we educate ourselves by owning that and admitting that we can help
each other.
And just, you know, I show up to a job every day where I am helping with this and I'm helping
people get educated on how to do something about it.
And we have a day, we're gonna be doing some special things here in Westminster.
(16:05):
We're gonna have a barbecue, some live music, some alumni speakers are gonna come in and
the patients are gonna write some notes on some purple balloons and release them.
They are biodegradable with messages to those they've lost and I'm really excited about
it.
(16:26):
Our patients are excited about it.
But I just think being, I'm very optimistic of where we're going as just a world.
I just saw last Sunday, I went out to breakfast with my girlfriend and just a young teenager
had a shirt on and it said, say no to drugs, you know, it's tearing the world apart.
And there was a picture on his shirt with the world splitting half.
(16:47):
I was like, you know what, that's pretty cool.
And I think the more that we talk about it, the more that we have special days like overdose
awareness, the better we'll be in the future.
Thank you for that, Peter.
I think that's true.
And I think the shirts help.
You know, I saw a lady this week and she had a fentanyl, an elderly lady with a fentanyl
(17:13):
awareness t-shirt.
And I just wanted to go up and give her a hug, I didn't because, you know, I don't know
if that would be appropriate.
But she, you know, it was just like, man, how awesome that somebody of a different generation
of a different time where this was very shameful, where it wasn't talked about, can just be
out in her community spreading that awareness.
(17:35):
So I do think all of those little things, the ribbons on the trees, just they were passing
out purple ribbons to start the, this is overdose awareness week leading up to the 31st at the
office.
And all of those things are meaningful.
All of them, people will ask questions.
And I think it is important.
(17:55):
Jill Showers, you have something to add.
I absolutely love what Peter and Jill said.
You know, I do think that every year there's more and more of these events and more and
more of these places that are putting purple balloons out or purple flags and things like
that.
And these are opportunities.
Every single one of those is an opportunity to get information about Narcan into somebody's
(18:18):
hands, right?
It's nobody's going to know that you have a, you know, some Narcan in your glove box, right?
But it could save somebody's life.
You have, you know, you have no idea how important, you know, naloxone can be.
And just getting some of like the basic information to people that like on the streets, you know,
(18:42):
what I mean?
Like once you, you distribute the Narcan or once you administer the Narcan, here's what
to expect from a person who is going to wake up from an overdose, you know, they might,
they might not know where they are.
There's, we have an opportunity here with every single one of these events to get more
information out to, to our communities, to keep our communities safer.
(19:07):
You know, we wouldn't have to lose as many people as we do if I think more people were
educated on, you know, MAT services for their, for their loved ones, right?
You know, are we talking about Vivitrol and what that looks like or Sublacate and what
that looks like?
Are we getting all this information out there where it's not, you know, so hard to get.
(19:31):
You know, your loved one treatment, right?
Can we get, can we get treatment lists out there?
Can we get business development out, you know, numbers to people so that if they have somebody
that needs treatment, they have a place to call immediately, right?
Like, because there's, let's face it, we have a very small window sometimes of, of people
(19:52):
willing to seek treatment.
And to be able to get, you know, a number into somebody's hand that if the, when they're
willing call this number immediately, you can save somebody's life.
So I absolutely love that, you know, there's special days like this overdose awareness.
Black balloon day is another one in March, you know, throughout the year, we're just
raising awareness and getting, you know, information and, and things that could save lives out
(20:16):
to people.
And I think it's incredible that, that it does keep growing.
Like Peter said, I think that we've come a long way, but I think that we have, you know,
a long way to go.
I agree so much and I started carrying, I think Margaret, you and I were at a recovery
fair in New Jersey at one point and they had these pouches with a Narcan and a little instructions.
(20:41):
I went online, I did Narcan training.
It was super easy just in YouTube.
So I knew what I, you know, if I, and I'd carry that with me on every day.
I also, it's back to school time.
I made sure my, my daughter's in a college dorm.
I'm like, you're taking these with you, you know, and, and breaking down kind of the,
(21:05):
that can be intimidating to think about Narcan and, and delivering that, but understanding
that it doesn't have to be, that you can quickly learn those steps with a YouTube or Google
search and educate yourself and educate your loved ones.
I think is so important.
Jill, you are a certified family recovery specialist.
(21:28):
What words do you have for families?
Maybe what are signs they can look for that a loved one maybe close to an overdose or
what are, what are some thoughts for families?
Yeah.
I think the scariest thing about this disease is how isolating it can be.
I think it's incredibly isolating for families.
(21:50):
We've talked a lot about shame today, but that feeling of, you know, guilt and the inability
to talk to others about it, because maybe other families won't understand what you're
feeling or maybe there's guilt associated with, you know, I wasn't able to keep my loved
one off of drugs or I wasn't able to stop them from developing this disease.
(22:10):
Um, but on the other side of things for the person that is suffering from the disease,
isolation is very scary, especially when you're using, um, you know, drug use and alcohol
use can be life threatening at all times, but when you're using it alone or when you're
using it without letting anybody know, um, it can be especially dangerous and life threatening.
(22:31):
So I would say to families, if you are noticing increased isolation with your loved one, if
you're noticing they are being, you know, maybe a lot more secretive, doing things behind
your back, you're not sure where they're going or, you know, who they're with.
Or if they're spending all of their time, you know, up in their room or if they're not
engaging with society and not, you know, focusing on their recovery, if they've started that
(22:54):
journey, um, that those are scary signs to look for in terms of, you know, their use
and how you might be able to step in having that, you know, open line of communication
with your loved one, just saying, you know, I suspect that you might be using or I suspect
that you're going through a difficult time.
I want to be here to support you.
(23:15):
What can we do?
How can we, you know, take a path forward together to make sure that you are, um, safe
and, you know, remaining as healthy as you can.
But watching out for that isolation, I think is key.
Um, and, you know, being open with your loved one, not shaming them, remembering that this
is a disease, this is something their brain has been, you know, re-hardwired by these
(23:37):
substances.
So, you know, as much as we want to look at them and shake them and say, stop, that's
not as simple as that, right?
So, believing in treatment, understanding the, you know, the efficacy of treatment and,
um, really just being there to support, even when it's hard, even when you might not fully
understand, um, why they are making the decisions that they are, uh, or why they are exhibiting
(24:00):
the behaviors that they're exhibiting, um, working to understand and, you know, talking
with them and letting them know that they have you in their corner, um, can be a huge difference
and, you know, can stop them from picking up and using once again.
So good.
Thank you.
Marguerite, finish us up here today.
(24:20):
Um, talk to us a little bit about how do we help someone find the courage to seek treatment?
Oh, one of the things that I wanted to comment on is, you know, when, when Jay, when you were
saying about you saw an elderly woman wearing the fentanyl weariness shirt, you know, it's
really important to understand that this disease does not discriminate.
(24:41):
You will find it in grammar school.
You will find it in high school and you will find it in senior living, right?
It's, it's a fact and we need to look at that realistically.
Um, it takes, it does take a lot of courage to actually, um, come to the point where you're
willing to surrender and admit that complete defeat and say that I need help.
I need help.
(25:02):
It's a very difficult thing for an active alcoholic or addict to say, right?
But I think what we're doing right now, the podcast, you know, what all of us in, you
know, in, in this podcast do on a daily basis is to put the message out there, right?
That there is help, you know, and, and watch for that moment.
Uh, truthfully, that I think that's what most of us do on a daily basis with our, you know,
(25:26):
with our alumni that are no longer a part of our inpatient program.
We watch for that moment when we see that willingness and that readiness and, and, and
we support 110% to help guide that person back into treatment, right?
If they need to return or, you know, just, um, doing what we do, just, you know, like
making it, um, making it realistic to a person that it, it's okay.
(25:50):
You know what I mean?
It is okay that you have this illness or you have this disease, um, and that there is a
solution to it and that there is help out there for you.
I think the biggest part of people not wanting to ask for help is because of the shame factor,
you know, and the fear of, I, you know, I can't do this to my family.
I can't do this to my parents.
(26:10):
I can't do this to my wife or my children.
Well, yeah, you can because what you're actually doing to them is you're giving them a new
life, right?
So thank you.
Thank you so much.
What a beautiful way you can, you can help them to a new life.
I think that's powerful.
Thank you to our three Jills today.
Jills showers, Jill Robinson and Jill D'Ameo.
(26:31):
We love Jills on the alumni team as well as Peter Gregory and Marguerite Warner for your,
um, time and your attention to overdose awareness.
Thank you all and, um, we wish you all the best in recovery and in life.
(26:52):
Thank you for listening to the strength and recovery podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, please tap the subscribe button and leave us a review.
We love hearing from our listeners and hope to reach more of you out there as we continue
to share these incredible stories of recovery.
The RCA alumni team aims to provide a safe, supportive environment for those in the recovery
(27:16):
community, regardless of their affiliation with RCA.
We host a full calendar of virtual and in-person meetings as well as free sober events every
month.
To learn more about what we do, find us at rcaalumni.com.
Remember, if you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, pick up the phone and dial
(27:39):
1-833-RCA-ALUMN.
Help is available 24 seven.
Listen to another episode now or join us next time for the strength and recovery podcast.
Hello listeners, welcome to the Strength in Recovery podcast.
(00:19):
August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day, leading up and it ushers in September,
which is recovery month.
And so today we really felt like it was important to discuss overdose, discuss overdose awareness,
how do you help someone who maybe is experienced an overdose or someone who's loved one has
(00:44):
passed from overdose.
So I have an incredible panel of guests today.
We'll start with Jill Showers.
She's a senior alumni coordinator from Lighthouse, which is in May's Landing, New Jersey.
I also have our senior alumni coordinator, Marguerite Warner.
She's from our Raritan Bay location located in South Amboy, New Jersey.
(01:07):
We have Jill DeMayo, manager of alumni and family engagement.
She is also a certified family recovery specialist.
Jill Robinson, she's our alumni coordinator from our Danvers location in Massachusetts
right outside of Boston.
And then another Massachusetts individual, Peter Gregory, for participating with us today,
(01:31):
alumni coordinator from Westminster, Massachusetts.
So thank you all for being here.
I know this is a topic that hits close to home, something all of us who work in recovery
are very passionate about.
So I'm going to just go to Marguerite first to kind of open the discussion.
If you might talking a little bit about what is overdose awareness, why do we need a day
(01:56):
to talk about this?
Sure, Jay.
Hello, everybody.
So basically, like the recognition of overdose awareness day has multiple facets to it.
One is to acknowledge those who have lost someone to the disease of addiction through
overdose.
But it's also really important to recognize those who are out there still sick and suffering
(02:22):
in silence and don't have the courage to reach out and actually speak to what's going on
with them.
Like, the main purpose in this process is really, if we talk about overdose, there's
a possibility you could save another human being's life.
Rather than finding shame or feeling it's a weakness and will, or perhaps like I've
(02:46):
often heard that, you know, poor moral character, it has nothing to do with that.
This is a disease.
Addiction is a disease.
And when we are, you know, in dealing with people, not only our families and our friends
and our loved ones, but anyone in our community, talking about this brings an awareness to
the community.
(03:08):
And it begins to break what we call the stigma, right, breaking the stigma of addiction.
There's a few things that I participated in to bring awareness to overdose awareness
day.
A couple of them were purple flag ceremonies.
So if you see different municipal buildings, different school buildings, what they'll do
is they'll put out purple flags on their lawn and it's to signify the amount of people
(03:32):
during a set period of time in that community that were lost and reported as lost to overdose.
And it's really to bring an awareness of the impact that this has on our community, you
know, young and old.
And that's the beginning of it, right, talking about it, having that awareness of it.
There's multiple different walks that you can participate in wearing different, you
(03:55):
know, apparel or attire that state break the stigma, right, you know, speak about this,
talk about this, give your addiction a voice.
So that's what we really encourage, right, is to bring this awareness to it.
And the key indicators and signs and things that I'm sure you're going to have the, you
know, the teen years speak to about what do we look for?
(04:18):
How do we support this, right?
Not only do how do we support the person struggling and suffering with the addiction, but how
do we support the family members that are going through, you know, the traumatic experience
that they have had?
It's really great.
And I think as we've gone through as a country, the overdose epidemic, the opioid epidemic,
(04:42):
which has led to a crisis.
And there's not one family that I know of who hasn't been personally touched in some
way.
And how do you come to terms with kind of, we all work in recovery, there's usually some
sort of connection that we have to either overdose or substance use.
(05:06):
Would either any of you like to jump in there and talk about how this has hit home?
So, yeah, so I have lost many people to overdoses.
I got sober about eight years ago and have been going to the rooms ever since, you know,
the rooms of AA, NA, narcotics anonymous, alcoholics anonymous, and these 12 step groups
(05:31):
that I could, in the beginning, any 12 step group that I could get into, it's where I
felt safe.
And we, I have, in developing bonds together in those rooms, you know, unfortunately, not
everybody makes it, right?
Not everybody continues to come and sees, you know, the 12 steps as a way out.
(05:55):
And we lose people very quickly.
But like I've had loss, you know, in my family as well.
And I truly love, I know it sounds weird to say, but I love overdose awareness day because
my mom, you know, I work in treatment and I go to, you know, 12 step meetings and I
(06:17):
get to speak with people who, you know, don't blink twice when I say, you know, my family
member died of an overdose, right?
My mom is not as comfortable saying that, you know, my family members are not as comfortable
saying that.
So this gives them one day to be able to be around a bunch of people that she can finally
(06:40):
say, you know, they can finally say, you know, my, I lost, I lost this person, you know what
I mean?
I lost this family member, I lost the person that was, you know, a piece of me, I lost
a piece of me to this disease that nobody wants to talk about or that we don't want to,
you know, draw attention to because we feel shame that it happened, right?
(07:00):
And, you know, it happened to my family or it happened to me or it happened, you know,
like it was something that, you know, came down and it was like a plague on our house,
you know, and I've gotten to see so many family members and so many of the people that
I've had being able to make a lot of connections with just be able to speak their loved ones
(07:27):
names and I've come, you know, into contact with a lot of people who feel the same way
where, you know, they have a place to talk about it and they have people around them
who understand at that point or even if they don't understand that they're in the same
boat, they're not understanding why this happened together.
And, you know, and it's usually in a big beautiful way with, you know, remembrance banners and
(07:51):
things like that.
I absolutely love being able to attend these events and things like that.
You know, we were doing a recovery walk with a couple of nonprofits through Lighthouse,
you know, in finding different events for Lighthouse to be able to do.
I love being able to help out with events like that.
(08:13):
So we are going to be walking the boardwalk up and down, you know, with RCA as a whole
with some of our business development team and we get to spread awareness and break stigma
together on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
So that'll be upcoming with Lighthouse.
That is so beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharing and I think it's important, like you said, for people to just
(08:38):
have a place to have a day to be able to share openly, you know, if someone was diagnosed
with diabetes or cancer, you don't have that same sort of stigma or shame that's intertwined
so closely like it is with this disease.
Jill Robinson, talk to us a little bit about your experience.
(09:00):
Hi, everybody.
Thank you for having me and inviting me to participate in this.
One thing that I mean, as somebody who is a grateful recovering addict, I have my own
experiences with overdose.
But since entering the field, I feel like I've been more impacted by that on a personal
(09:24):
and professional level.
You know, we've lost patients and not only have we lost patients early on in my career
at RCA, we lost a colleague that was very dear to me.
That was a huge impact on my treatment here and really helped propel me into a life in
(09:48):
recovery and about three months into my tenure at RCA, we lost her to an overdose.
And that really smacked me in the face that loss because it made me really be more aware
and more mindful of the fact that those of us who are in personal recovery, even though,
(10:14):
you know, regardless of how many years we have, this person had, I think, close to a
decade, we are still vulnerable to that.
And by taking on the traumas of our patients on a daily basis, if we're not really, if
(10:35):
we don't practice our own, whatever our own personal recovery is on a daily basis and
really check ourselves to make sure that, you know, the work we do isn't impacting our
lives in a negative way that, you know, we can find ourselves in those positions.
And I, you know, take every opportunity I can to honor my colleague because she was so
(11:00):
instrumental in her memory, lives on every day in the halls of RCA Danvers.
And we really try to honor her by continuing to do good work and continuing to be advocates
and continuing to break stigma.
One thing that I was thinking about as you guys were talking is the obituaries that we
(11:20):
see in the paper and how they're usually worded.
And it's usually, you know, somebody, you know, a younger person, and it says something
like died suddenly or died unexpectedly.
And I get why the families don't want to necessarily attach the stigma of this disease to that,
(11:40):
to their loved one who they've lost in that obituary.
But at the same time, I've started to also see people talk about the disease in their
loved ones obituary and honor that and honor their row to recovery and the fact that, you
(12:02):
know, they may have, and I don't like to say the word lost their battle, but succumbed
to their disease, but talk about the connections that they were able to make when they were
in recovery and the causes that they stood for and put faces to all the nameless that
we've lost as a result of, especially as a result of the opioid epidemic.
(12:27):
In 2023 in Massachusetts, we lost 2,125 confirmed opioid related deaths.
It's the first year and I think over a decade where that number dropped 10%, which is great.
It's just a great trend.
We'll see if that trend continues in 2024.
(12:48):
But that's still over 2,000 lives, 2,000 young lives that were not able to kind of come to
the fruition and really be able to experience the gifts that recovery offer.
And I think that we would be to not have a day to honor those people, it's not have a
(13:10):
day when those families feel safe to honor these people and say, you know, this is a
tangible life that was lost as a result of this epidemic and celebrate them for the lives
that they were able to lead, even if it was shortened.
But just to start breaking stigma, like we're seeing purple ribbons, you know, splattered
(13:31):
across our, you know, telephone poles and, you know, and people wear t-shirts that promote
overdosed awareness.
I think that we're on a trend where we can stop breaking that stigma and start making
families be more comfortable to say this person was another casualty of this epidemic.
(13:53):
And we need to continue to work even harder to make resources be available to these people.
We got to continue to hand out knock-hand.
We have to, you know, we're seeing naloxone boxes, like, you know, you know, come up in
our communities and that's, you know, although some people have a really, you know, they
might, you know, struggle with being able to be okay with those types of things.
(14:14):
I think we need to continue to fight for the people that we have lost and fight for the
people who are still here struggling to get a foothold in recovery because that's how
we're going to change.
That's how we're going to change the stigmas that are associated with this disease.
That's so good.
I mean, just really good stuff.
(14:34):
And I do think this just really touches all of us who work in recovery.
And I think the amount of colleagues, the amount of patients, sometimes that we lose,
can make the, you know, it makes us passionate about the work for sure, but it does take
(14:55):
an individual toll.
And thank you for bringing that to mind.
Peter, talk to us a little bit.
Yeah, I'm just, you know, the word stigma has popped up a few times and I'm just looking
at the progress we've made as a country, as just where we are today with the fact that
we talk about it, that we have, you know, overdose awareness day, we have, we're just
(15:19):
more educated and the progress in overall is growing.
And I think that is huge because, you know, back in the day, you know, when I was a young
teenager, it was, you know, here, no evil, see no evil and people didn't talk about
it, you know, we all know somebody with an addiction, with an, you know, with alcoholism.
(15:43):
And it's, I think we educate ourselves by owning that and admitting that we can help
each other.
And just, you know, I show up to a job every day where I am helping with this and I'm helping
people get educated on how to do something about it.
And we have a day, we're gonna be doing some special things here in Westminster.
(16:05):
We're gonna have a barbecue, some live music, some alumni speakers are gonna come in and
the patients are gonna write some notes on some purple balloons and release them.
They are biodegradable with messages to those they've lost and I'm really excited about
it.
(16:26):
Our patients are excited about it.
But I just think being, I'm very optimistic of where we're going as just a world.
I just saw last Sunday, I went out to breakfast with my girlfriend and just a young teenager
had a shirt on and it said, say no to drugs, you know, it's tearing the world apart.
And there was a picture on his shirt with the world splitting half.
(16:47):
I was like, you know what, that's pretty cool.
And I think the more that we talk about it, the more that we have special days like overdose
awareness, the better we'll be in the future.
Thank you for that, Peter.
I think that's true.
And I think the shirts help.
You know, I saw a lady this week and she had a fentanyl, an elderly lady with a fentanyl
(17:13):
awareness t-shirt.
And I just wanted to go up and give her a hug, I didn't because, you know, I don't know
if that would be appropriate.
But she, you know, it was just like, man, how awesome that somebody of a different generation
of a different time where this was very shameful, where it wasn't talked about, can just be
out in her community spreading that awareness.
(17:35):
So I do think all of those little things, the ribbons on the trees, just they were passing
out purple ribbons to start the, this is overdose awareness week leading up to the 31st at the
office.
And all of those things are meaningful.
All of them, people will ask questions.
And I think it is important.
(17:55):
Jill Showers, you have something to add.
I absolutely love what Peter and Jill said.
You know, I do think that every year there's more and more of these events and more and
more of these places that are putting purple balloons out or purple flags and things like
that.
And these are opportunities.
Every single one of those is an opportunity to get information about Narcan into somebody's
(18:18):
hands, right?
It's nobody's going to know that you have a, you know, some Narcan in your glove box, right?
But it could save somebody's life.
You have, you know, you have no idea how important, you know, naloxone can be.
And just getting some of like the basic information to people that like on the streets, you know,
(18:42):
what I mean?
Like once you, you distribute the Narcan or once you administer the Narcan, here's what
to expect from a person who is going to wake up from an overdose, you know, they might,
they might not know where they are.
There's, we have an opportunity here with every single one of these events to get more
information out to, to our communities, to keep our communities safer.
(19:07):
You know, we wouldn't have to lose as many people as we do if I think more people were
educated on, you know, MAT services for their, for their loved ones, right?
You know, are we talking about Vivitrol and what that looks like or Sublacate and what
that looks like?
Are we getting all this information out there where it's not, you know, so hard to get.
(19:31):
You know, your loved one treatment, right?
Can we get, can we get treatment lists out there?
Can we get business development out, you know, numbers to people so that if they have somebody
that needs treatment, they have a place to call immediately, right?
Like, because there's, let's face it, we have a very small window sometimes of, of people
(19:52):
willing to seek treatment.
And to be able to get, you know, a number into somebody's hand that if the, when they're
willing call this number immediately, you can save somebody's life.
So I absolutely love that, you know, there's special days like this overdose awareness.
Black balloon day is another one in March, you know, throughout the year, we're just
raising awareness and getting, you know, information and, and things that could save lives out
(20:16):
to people.
And I think it's incredible that, that it does keep growing.
Like Peter said, I think that we've come a long way, but I think that we have, you know,
a long way to go.
I agree so much and I started carrying, I think Margaret, you and I were at a recovery
fair in New Jersey at one point and they had these pouches with a Narcan and a little instructions.
(20:41):
I went online, I did Narcan training.
It was super easy just in YouTube.
So I knew what I, you know, if I, and I'd carry that with me on every day.
I also, it's back to school time.
I made sure my, my daughter's in a college dorm.
I'm like, you're taking these with you, you know, and, and breaking down kind of the,
(21:05):
that can be intimidating to think about Narcan and, and delivering that, but understanding
that it doesn't have to be, that you can quickly learn those steps with a YouTube or Google
search and educate yourself and educate your loved ones.
I think is so important.
Jill, you are a certified family recovery specialist.
(21:28):
What words do you have for families?
Maybe what are signs they can look for that a loved one maybe close to an overdose or
what are, what are some thoughts for families?
Yeah.
I think the scariest thing about this disease is how isolating it can be.
I think it's incredibly isolating for families.
(21:50):
We've talked a lot about shame today, but that feeling of, you know, guilt and the inability
to talk to others about it, because maybe other families won't understand what you're
feeling or maybe there's guilt associated with, you know, I wasn't able to keep my loved
one off of drugs or I wasn't able to stop them from developing this disease.
(22:10):
Um, but on the other side of things for the person that is suffering from the disease,
isolation is very scary, especially when you're using, um, you know, drug use and alcohol
use can be life threatening at all times, but when you're using it alone or when you're
using it without letting anybody know, um, it can be especially dangerous and life threatening.
(22:31):
So I would say to families, if you are noticing increased isolation with your loved one, if
you're noticing they are being, you know, maybe a lot more secretive, doing things behind
your back, you're not sure where they're going or, you know, who they're with.
Or if they're spending all of their time, you know, up in their room or if they're not
engaging with society and not, you know, focusing on their recovery, if they've started that
(22:54):
journey, um, that those are scary signs to look for in terms of, you know, their use
and how you might be able to step in having that, you know, open line of communication
with your loved one, just saying, you know, I suspect that you might be using or I suspect
that you're going through a difficult time.
I want to be here to support you.
(23:15):
What can we do?
How can we, you know, take a path forward together to make sure that you are, um, safe
and, you know, remaining as healthy as you can.
But watching out for that isolation, I think is key.
Um, and, you know, being open with your loved one, not shaming them, remembering that this
is a disease, this is something their brain has been, you know, re-hardwired by these
(23:37):
substances.
So, you know, as much as we want to look at them and shake them and say, stop, that's
not as simple as that, right?
So, believing in treatment, understanding the, you know, the efficacy of treatment and,
um, really just being there to support, even when it's hard, even when you might not fully
understand, um, why they are making the decisions that they are, uh, or why they are exhibiting
(24:00):
the behaviors that they're exhibiting, um, working to understand and, you know, talking
with them and letting them know that they have you in their corner, um, can be a huge difference
and, you know, can stop them from picking up and using once again.
So good.
Thank you.
Marguerite, finish us up here today.
(24:20):
Um, talk to us a little bit about how do we help someone find the courage to seek treatment?
Oh, one of the things that I wanted to comment on is, you know, when, when Jay, when you were
saying about you saw an elderly woman wearing the fentanyl weariness shirt, you know, it's
really important to understand that this disease does not discriminate.
(24:41):
You will find it in grammar school.
You will find it in high school and you will find it in senior living, right?
It's, it's a fact and we need to look at that realistically.
Um, it takes, it does take a lot of courage to actually, um, come to the point where you're
willing to surrender and admit that complete defeat and say that I need help.
I need help.
(25:02):
It's a very difficult thing for an active alcoholic or addict to say, right?
But I think what we're doing right now, the podcast, you know, what all of us in, you
know, in, in this podcast do on a daily basis is to put the message out there, right?
That there is help, you know, and, and watch for that moment.
Uh, truthfully, that I think that's what most of us do on a daily basis with our, you know,
(25:26):
with our alumni that are no longer a part of our inpatient program.
We watch for that moment when we see that willingness and that readiness and, and, and
we support 110% to help guide that person back into treatment, right?
If they need to return or, you know, just, um, doing what we do, just, you know, like
making it, um, making it realistic to a person that it, it's okay.
(25:50):
You know what I mean?
It is okay that you have this illness or you have this disease, um, and that there is a
solution to it and that there is help out there for you.
I think the biggest part of people not wanting to ask for help is because of the shame factor,
you know, and the fear of, I, you know, I can't do this to my family.
I can't do this to my parents.
(26:10):
I can't do this to my wife or my children.
Well, yeah, you can because what you're actually doing to them is you're giving them a new
life, right?
So thank you.
Thank you so much.
What a beautiful way you can, you can help them to a new life.
I think that's powerful.
Thank you to our three Jills today.
Jills showers, Jill Robinson and Jill D'Ameo.
(26:31):
We love Jills on the alumni team as well as Peter Gregory and Marguerite Warner for your,
um, time and your attention to overdose awareness.
Thank you all and, um, we wish you all the best in recovery and in life.
(26:52):
Thank you for listening to the strength and recovery podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, please tap the subscribe button and leave us a review.
We love hearing from our listeners and hope to reach more of you out there as we continue
to share these incredible stories of recovery.
The RCA alumni team aims to provide a safe, supportive environment for those in the recovery
(27:16):
community, regardless of their affiliation with RCA.
We host a full calendar of virtual and in-person meetings as well as free sober events every
month.
To learn more about what we do, find us at rcaalumni.com.
Remember, if you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, pick up the phone and dial
(27:39):
1-833-RCA-ALUMN.
Help is available 24 seven.
Listen to another episode now or join us next time for the strength and recovery podcast.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.