BRATTLEBORO — After leaving the June Opioid forum, I was asked in person and through several messages, “But what can I do? What can we do?”
The question is a normal one to want to ask; however, unless you are going to move into the fields of human services, substance-use treatment, law enforcement, first response, legislating, or government, the “what you can do” is pretty darned limited.
The usuals are there: high-level hands-off stuff, all of which are excellent:
• Advocate to your legislators to demand longer-term treatment options with more-robust treatment plans.
• Donate to community partners that are already undertaking this work.
But speaking frankly, as your fellow community member, this is my further response.
• Consider carrying Narcan, and learn proper life-saving techniques in case you come across an emergency situation.
• Understand how to respond when you find needles, and know how to handle and dispose of them properly.
• Consider how you are educating your children about this crisis. My 4- and 6-year-olds know what needles look like and know that what is previously contained in said needles is something people think of as medicine for either their hurt bodies or hurt minds and hearts.
They know that this medicine is dangerous and can make people very sick. They know to call for an adult if they see a needle, so it can be picked up.
I do not instill fear, only facts. I want to empower them to be aware of others, and understanding of where others are on their personal journeys.
• Perhaps most important of all, consider how you are caring for yourself. As more and more of the byproduct of pain, poverty, and cracks in our systems present themselves visually on a daily basis, symptoms of vicarious trauma and/or compassion fatigue can present. Triggers we didn't even know we had can crop up and really make things challenging.
Caring for yourself during these hard times is really important so you can be wholly present to offer support, to educate your children, or simply to be able to be well enough to engage with those whose obvious struggles can be heartbreaking to see.