Introducing Overdose Awareness Day 2023
Overdose touches people and communities in many ways.
With our theme for 2023, “Recognizing those people who go unseen,” we honor the people whose lives have been altered by overdose. They are the family and friends grieving the loss of a loved one; workers in healthcare and support services extending strength and compassion; or spontaneous first responders who selflessly assume the role of lifesaver.
We would like to say to these people: #weseeyou. Theirs are the voices we should amplify, and their strength and experience should be held up as examples to us all. Too often, however, they are left to bear the burden of this crisis alone and in silence.
This year on August 31, let’s acknowledge and support the people in our communities who go unrecognized by raising awareness of the hidden impacts of overdose, promoting education of overdose response, and reaching out to politicians to make lasting, lifesaving policy changes.
It’s time to act. Who are the people in your community affected by overdose that you would like to recognize this IOAD?
About the campaign
Campaign kit
MY NAME IS MUM
AND MY CHILD IS AN ADDICT
I hope to develop this website to be a safe, caring & anonymous support haven for mothers of addicts. A source of education, references and information collected through experiences and research of other mums in the same boat. Believe me there are many of us, and by sharing what we know, we can build a support network for ourselves. I started this project over a year ago, after 10 years of living and loving my son in addiction. Ten years of searching for help, answers, support and miracles. I envisaged that my son would eventually recover and I could share my journey. This project is now in honor of my son who lost his battle with addiction in September this year, overdosing on opiates whilst waiting to get into a detox unit. I will forever fight alongside other mothers in this war on drugs that continues to kill our kids. Being an addict's mother is like being knee deep in mud, never knowing the best way to move forward, often finding you need to move backward and usually just moving sideways. Every moment we ponder how to head in a new direction. I believe that we can help each other by sharing our journey, our lessons, our wisdom and the combined love we have for our beautiful children who we hope will beat this horrible affliction we call addiction. The addiction is NOT our child, and by learning to separate the addict from the child we love, I believe we can keep strong enough to make a difference. Having a child in addiction makes you feel like it's killing you too, we need the strength, the tools and the voice to force change. Join me, let's see how strong we are.