‘National Addictions Awareness Week’ encourages support to be taken advantage of

Kym Porter, who has been involved with the Medicine Hat Drug Coalition since conception, has herself experienced loss in the past due to addiction.

She said the organization is meant to help educate people on addictions as well as build compassion in the community for people that are struggling.

Porter said that local public access to addiction services could use improvement, as some private facilities don’t have the resources needed for everyone.

“Public access should be more readily available. I use the word should,” she said Monday.

“It isn’t. People that are ready to have reached a point in their life where they’ve made that decision that they want to make some changes, for most of those people it needs to happen now,” she added.

“Even with the public available resources, they’re not necessarily available quick enough.”

The Medicine Hat Drug Coalition currently has a display set up in the Medicine Hat Public Library, to educate others on what addiction looks like and how support can be given.

Dr. Mohit Singh, section chief of addiction medicine for Recovery Alberta in Edmonton, said that this week is important to acknowledge for Canadians.

He said each year of National Addictions Awareness Week has a different theme, this year’s being “Forging Connections”.

“I think that’s a really nice theme because, you know, one in five Albertans will experience mental illness or addiction in any given year,” he said.

“It’s important to be able to talk about where to get access and where to get treatment. And that’s really important for us at Recovery Alberta.”

Singh said that, this week, awareness means being able to talk openly about any concerns that one may feel in regards to addiction and mental health.

He encouraged those who feel this way to seek out the appropriate resources and help, whatever that may look like in one’s community.

The process of supporting those who experience these kinds of struggles is a very individualistic assessment that can complicate the recovery process.

“I feel really fortunate to live in a province where we have access to high-quality public health care services. And we’re always working to make sure that there is good access,” he said.

“Trying to reduce those barriers and wait times. And definitely, they exist. But we’re trying our best to address them,”

Singh said the approach that Recovery Alberta takes is to help meet people where they’re at, and help them understand that recovery is possible for everyone.

Regardless of what stage of addiction or mental health they may be in, they want people to know that support is available and doesn’t have an end date.

“As a society, the less we stigmatize addiction, the more people are going to feel comfortable reaching out. And so if there is someone out there struggling right now, reach out to someone that you trust,” said Porter.

“If you don’t have the energy to get that person connected, then get someone else to reach out,” she added.

“There’s different supports. Not every type of support works for every person. And so I think if you try out one thing and it doesn’t work, then you need to try out something else,”

If you know anyone who struggles with addiction, in whatever form that may take, meet them where they’re at.

Every individual accepts support in their own way, and resources are available to do so today.

The Medicine Hat Public Library will be hosting training for Naloxone, a medication used to temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, on the evenings of Nov. 26-27 from 6 to 8 p.m.

by Jayk Sterkenburg

‘National Addictions Awareness Week’ encourages support to be taken advantage of

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