Addiction & Mental Health Resources

Introduction

In this brief news report, frontline workers discuss their personal and professional experiences with addiction and what it has been like to respond to an overdose during the opioid crisis. They talk about their loved one’s addiction and how this impacted their ability to help others. However, they also talk about the importance of recognizing compassion fatigue.

KMOV St. Louis posted this video as a follow-up to ‘Contaminated: The Fentanyl Crisis in St. Louis‘

Quotes

“In this special report, we put a spotlight on those working the frontlines and show the consequences that we are left with.”
“Addiction takes the things that we love most about the people we love and pushes them so far down that you forget that they are there.”
“Becoming an ER nurse has helped me see what people in our community are suffering from.”
“I think stigma is killing people more than people realize.”
“Fentanyl is what we’re seeing all the time and it’s more deadly, it’s more prevalent, it’s cheap.”

“It’s in every community, it’s in every neighbourhood. I’ve never seen anything like that and there’s no end in sight for it.”
“Constantly responding to overdoses takes a toll in First Responders.”
“When I took this job, I got it because I knew I wanted to help people and the people in this city need the help.”
“Being in the substance abuse treatment field has been one of the best ways I’ve learned to cope with my grief.”

Opioid Crisis

• Beyond Supply: How We Must Tackle the Opioid Epidemic [PDF]
• California’s Opioid Crisis
• Facts About Naltrexone [PDF]
• Fentanyl: America’s Grim New Opioid Addiction
• How America Got Hooked on Opioids
• How Good Intentions Contributed to Bad Outcomes [PDF]
• How the Government is Making the Opioid Crisis Worse
• Opioid Crisis: Addiction, Overprescription, and Insufficient Primary Prevention
• The Impact of the Deadly Fentanyl ‘Plague’ on One American City
• The Opioid Crisis in Canada: A National Perspective
• Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic
• Unraveling the Start of the Opioid Crisis
• What Led to the Opioid Crisis – and How to Fix It
• Why Is There an Opioid Crisis?

Opioid Use Disorder

• 2-Minute Neuroscience: Opioids
• Drug Addiction: How Opioids Like Fentanyl Work
• How Do Opiates Affect the Nervous System?
• How Drugs Hijack Your Brain’s Mu Opioid Receptors
• Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
• Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
• Opiate Addiction | The Causes
• Opiate Addiction | The Signs
• Opiate Addiction | Why It’s So Intense
• Opiate Use Disorder or Opiate Addiction?
• Opioid Addiction (CAMH)
• Opioid Overdose (WHO)
• Opioid Use Disorder (NIH)
• Opioid Use Disorder: Medical Treatment Options
• Opioids & the Body: The Science of An Overdose
• Signs of Opioid Use Disorder
• Therapeutic Approaches to Opioid Use Disorder: What is the Current Standard of Care?
• This Is What Happens to Your Brain on Opioids
• Treatment of Opioid-Use Disorders
• What Causes Opioid Addiction, and Why Is It So Tough to Combat?

Talking to Kids About Addiction

• 8 Tips for Talking to Kids About Drugs
• Do’s and Don’ts: Talking to Your Kids About Drugs
• How to Have a Conversation About Drugs and Alcohol with Your Kids
• How to Talk to Kids About Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl
• How to Talk to Young Children About Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
• How to Talk to Your Child About Drugs (Ages 6 to 8)
• How to Talk to Kids About Drugs
• How to Talk to Kids About Drugs
• Prepare Yourself to Talk Effectively
• Talk with Your Children About Gambling
• Talking to Teens about Drugs: Found in Reverse Translation?
• Teen Gambling
• Teens and Drugs: 5 Tips for Talking with Your Kids
• The Domino Effect: Youth and Substance Abuse
• What Parents of Teens Should Know About Online Gambling
• Why You Should Talk with Your Child About Alcohol and Other Drugs
• You Did Drugs. What Do You Tell Your Kids When They Ask?