David Van Der Velde on the Need to Focus More on Non-Fatal Overdoses

In a recent article on Thrive Global, Awakening Recovery Founder and Executive Director David Van Der Velde weighs in on the great news that fatal opioid overdoses have declined in the past year. After this metric had grown rapidly for most of the last two decades, at times feeling like a runaway freight train, the reduction in overdose deaths is a much-needed relief.

But according to David, beneath the encouraging drop in fatal overdose numbers, there is a foreboding possible increase in non-fatal overdoses. The numbers of reported non-fatal overdoses have remained flat but the increased availability of overdose-reversal medications like naloxone has caused many overdoses to be self-treated and therefore go unreported.

Digging deeper, David discusses the very serious repercussions and danger that a survivor of a non-fatal overdose finds themselves in. They are 'at-risk' for a brain injury or another more serious overdose, among other things.  And these survivors on the whole are not getting nearly the recovery support he'd like to see them receive.

David continues with several proposed solutions that could improve outcomes for those who experience a non-fatal overdose. These focus on more support pathways, and more opportunities for the person to receive ongoing help toward recovering from their problematic opioid use.

Read the entire article on Thrive Global here.