Why Grief Support

Grief is a natural response to loss and is highly individual. Coping with the death of someone you care about due to overdose or substance use is difficult at best. With a sudden unexpected loss, you are thrown into a new world, often without the tools to know how to cope. You may experience all sorts of emotional and physical reactions. Profound sadness, longing, disbelief, depression, shock, anger, guilt and a hundred other emotions will be felt. Sleeplessness, brain fog, lack of appetite, and the feeling that your heart is actually physically breaking are just some of the reactions your body may go through. Know that you are not alone in these feelings and there is no right or wrong way to grieve. 

In time, some of the feelings and reactions will change and you will find a way to live in your new world without the person you cared about so much. By attending a support group, you are able to share and explore your feelings in a safe nonjudgmental place. We provide a space to escape the isolation that some people feel in grief and a place to voice whatever you are feeling, no matter how strange it may sound. Our support groups provide you with a new community that you can lean on. People who don’t experience this type of loss may pressure you to get back to normal, know that we understand there is no such thing as normal to you anymore. Sometimes the hardest step is walking into the meeting. Take that step, and if you can’t talk at your first meeting because you are too emotional, that’s ok. You can still sit amongst us and when you are ready to talk we will listen. Pre register here.

For more information regarding a substance use related death, please visit our partner organization, Support After a Death Due to Overdose ( SADOD).