Overdose Awareness Day
31 August 2012
Becoming aware. The annual International Overdose Awareness Day, founded by The Salvation Army, occurs on Friday, 31 August.
This day aims to educate Australians and people overseas about drug overdoses (ODs); related to licit (prescribed) substances and illicit drugs such as heroin. We also want to raise awareness of warning signs of ODs; to respect and acknowledge people's grief; to honour the memory of those who have been lost
Every year the International Overdose Awareness Day presents stories of loss and hope; of grace and pain and grief and insight. Memories are honoured and
One emphasis this year is raising awareness that irregular sleeping patterns characterised by loud, erratic snoring and gurgling may potentially be an indicator of overdose, as the respiratory system is shut down by chemical reactions to the substances concerned. This is not a readily recognised indicator of overdose for people in everyday circumstances.
Another aspect to this year's IOAD is the continuing public conversation about the prospects and possible impact of a
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'We need further education about drug use and the risks associated with both prescribed and illicit drug use. We need better information to be available relating to prescription drugs, and we need doctors and pharmacists to be more proactive and engaged with clients who come to them in pain. We also need more funding for pharmacotherapy treatment – in other words, medically assisted addiction treatments such as methadone and buprenorphine that assist people through withdrawal and maintenance programs.'
Royal Abbott, from
'Overdose is a preventable tragedy,' adds John, 'which leaves people behind to pick up the pieces. There are just not enough doctors who understand the issues, or who take the time to deal with a patient's issues. It's often about the stigma attached to a patient.
'The approach to minimising harm in people's lives has to improve in this country. We can no longer allow the stigmatising of family and friends of those who lose their lives or their health to overdoses.'
Using drugs such as alcohol, and legal and illegal opiates, etc., is an exercise as long as human history. As well as the reality of physical addiction to some substances, drug use can be a form of self-medication for people in extremis: drug users often take the substances to mask emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual pain and distress.
'Drug use is a medical issue; not a moral failure,' John emphasises. 'It touches people from all demographic groups and all walks of life.'
'It's too easy for people to demonise drug overdoses as some dramatic, sordid adventure with heroin in a back alley. The reality is that many people in Australia 'slip away' accidentally with normal prescription drugs and a few alcoholic drinks,' adds Royal Abbott. 'The combination is toxic.'
'More often than not, overdoses are accidental,' says Belinda McNair from The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory's alcohol and other drugs (AOD) unit. 'Often, assumptions are made of people's intentions and purposes, and states of mind, that are without foundation.
'Also,' she adds, 'the reality is that when people do manage to reduce their drug
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Belinda explains that, in Victoria alone, approximately 80% of overdoses occur as a result of polydrug use (that is, a mixture of substances such as heroin, alcohol and prescription drugs) or lowered tolerance.
'The misuse of legally-obtained pharmaceutical products and alcohol is a growth area in overdoses,' Belinda says, 'and that's especially true in rural areas.'
This article resulted from a conversation with Belinda McNair, a service development officer in the Salvation Army's Australia Southern Territory's alcohol and other drugs unit, and John Ryan and Royal Abbott, respectively the CEO and the communications officer of
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Read Shane story, a victim of OD in the latest issue of our Warcry magazine.
For more information please contact:
The Salvation Army, Australia Southern Territory
Territorial Communications & Fundraising Department, 95-99 Railway Road, Blackburn VIC 3130
T: 03 8878 2400
E: salvosaus@aus.salvationarmy.org