Important news for International Overdose Awareness Day
The Family Counseling Center is reaching out to the community in advance of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, 2021.
Begun in 2001 in Australia, International Overdose Awareness Day provides an opportunity to increase awareness of drug overdose, commemorate those who have been lost to overdose, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind.
Worldwide, an estimated 585,000 people die each year due to drug overdose. According to the United Nations Office on Drug & Crime’s (UNODC) 2021 World Drug Report, 36 million people suffer from drug use disorders with 11 million estimated using injected drugs. North America has the highest drug-related death rate in the world according to UNODC. In April, the Centers for Disease Control released a report showing that over 90,000 people died in the United States between September 2019 and September 2020 from drug overdose.
There is positive news
While the true impacts of the pandemic and drug use are still to be seen, some positive news can be reported. COVID-19 has introduced more flexible models of treatment. Telehealth services allow individuals the ability to access counseling, assessment, and continued care more easily than traditional models. Locally, The Family Counseling Center has placed a Medically Assisted Drug Treatment Program as a key component of their expansion project. The program will accommodate up to 175 individuals.
Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) provides a whole patient approach to care with a combination of medications, counseling, and behavioral therapies. MAT programs are clinically driven and tailored to meet the needs of individual clients.
Know the signs
It is important to know the signs of overdose however, signs and symptoms vary according to the substance taken.
Fact Sheets
- Signs of Depressant Overdose
- Signs of Opioid Overdose
- Signs of Alcohol Overdose
- Signs of Stimulant Overdose
- General Information on Overdose