WILMINGTON, OHIO — International Overdose Awareness Day is held on Aug. 31 every year. It is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.
Clinton County partners will be hosting an Overdose Awareness Day event on Friday, Aug. 30 at the JW Denver Williams Park in Wilmington from 2–4 p.m., according to a news release. The Clinton County Health District will be a part of this event in supporting grief recovery.
“Grief is defined as the normal and natural reaction to significant emotional loss of any kind. Grief can further be defined as the conflicting feelings caused by the end of, or change in, a familiar pattern of behavior,” the release states. “As we explore those definitions of grief, we can be certain that as human beings, everyone will experience grief in their lifetime. This is an area that addicts and family members in recovery may not consider: the strong role that the grief process plays in their experience.
“There are obvious times when we consider grief to be a natural reaction to life circumstances, like when someone has died or moved away or when an important job or possession is lost. However, the experience of grief is not only stimulated by losing loved ones or possessions, but also felt when someone loses a way of living or a way of looking at themselves which had been a way of life.
“In the process of recovering from an addiction, grief emerges in reaction to the intense changes taking place in an individual and family as the addiction problem is addressed. Understanding and accepting this process of grieving helps recovery to be less of a mystery. While exploring the grief process itself, it can be helpful to identify some of the losses that may be brought forth. Addicts will grieve the loss of the addiction itself: the distraction, relaxation, intensity, and the high. They will also grieve the rituals, relationships, and patterns of behavior.”
Grief recovery support is a new program offered by Renee Quallen BSN, GRMS, at the Clinton County Health District. In 2022, the Ohio Department of Health launched an initiative to provide Grief Recovery Method Programs across the state. This program emphasizes that grief is not limited to death, but all the various types of loss that someone can experience in a lifetime.
The health district recently received a grant from Health First that will support planning Grief Recovery Method Programming in Clinton County. For more information, visit https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/grms/renee-quallen or call the CCHD at 937-481-2129
