This two-page handout lists a number of resources related to grief after a death caused by substance use -- and outlines basic information about the experience of bereavement for people who survivor a substance-use death.

1. © 2018 Unified Community Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Updated 06/15/2018.
Permission granted for non-commercial use: UCS logo and copyright must be included.
Download free at bit.ly/sudgriefprimer. Contact UCS at bit.ly/homeucs.
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This handout covers basic information to help people who are grieving the
loss of someone who died from substance use. Below is a list of resources,
and on the next page are some facts and ideas about this kind of grief.
SUPPORT GROUP DIRECTORIES
• Massachusetts groups: www.learn2cope.org/grief-resources
• GRASP (Grief Recovery After Substance Passing) (national):
bit.ly/usgrasp
ONLINE SUPPORT GROUPS
• “Team Sharing” closed Facebook groups (Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut):
bit.ly/teamsharingfb
• “Broken No More” closed Facebook group (national):
www.facebook.com/groups/BrokenNoMore
• The Compassionate Friends (www.compassionatefriends.org) closed
Facebook groups:
• For bereaved parents and grandparents:
bit.ly/tcfsubstanceloss
• For bereaved siblings: bit.ly/siblingsud
INFORMATION ON GRIEF AFTER SUD
• Bereaved by Addiction: A Booklet for Anyone Bereaved Through
Drug or Alcohol Use: bit.ly/drugfamgrief.*
• From What’s Your Grief:
• “Grief After an Overdose Death” (article & podcast):
• Part 1: bit.ly/griefsud01
• Part 2: bit.ly/griefsud02
• “Surviving the Grief of an Overdose Death” (booklet, $2):
bit.ly/sudbooklet
INFORMATION ON PROVIDING SUPPORT TO BEREAVED PEOPLE
• Bereaved Through Substance Use: Guidelines for Those Whose
Work Brings Them into Contact with Adults Bereaved After a Drug
or Alcohol-Related Death: bit.ly/drugusegrief.*
* These booklets, available free as downloads, are excellent sources of general
information (even though the resources they list are in the U.K.).
COPING WITH GRIEF FROM A SUBSTANCE-USE DEATH

2. © 2018 Unified Community Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Updated 06/15/2018.
Permission granted for non-commercial use: UCS logo and copyright must be included.
Download free at bit.ly/sudgriefprimer. Contact UCS at bit.ly/homeucs.
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• Shock
• Disbelief
• Confusion
• Anger
• Blame
• Guilt
• Shame
• Abandonment
• Rejection
• Failure
• Helplessness
• Hopelessness
• Unfairness
• Fear
• Relief
A PRIMER ON GRIEF
GRIEF IN GENERAL
Grief involves several tasks, but they do not unfold in a particular order, and
each individual experiences grief in their own way over their lifetime. The
tasks of grief:
• Facing the reality of the loss
• Coping with the pain of grief
• Living in a world without the deceased
• Exploring enduring connections with the deceased
• Engaging in the next phase of life
GRIEF AFTER A SUBSTANCE-USE DEATH
After someone dies from substance use, the answers to three commonly
asked questions may contribute to survivors’ experiences of grief:
• “Why did this person die from substance use?”
• “Did the person intend to die?”
• “Was the death preventable?”
A death from substance use can cause survivors to experience troublesome
thoughts and strong feelings such as:
Even before the death, coping with substance use may begin to influence
what happens to the bereaved after the death occurs:
• Dynamics of addiction: Relationships can be affected by shifting roles,
crises, intense emotions, negative world view, unmanageability, etc.
• Chronic illness: Caring for a person at risk of an overdose can affect
caregivers similarly to how caring for the terminally ill affects them.
• Ambiguous loss: Sometimes, a person using substances is utterly
absent psychologically in a way that resembles an actual death.
Other factors that come into play when someone dies from substance use
may have profound effects on the bereaved:
• Stigma: Society negatively judges people who are affected by sub-
stance use, which can cause survivors to be mistreated or isolated.
• Disenfranchised grief: Survivors’ grief can be treated as insignificant
because the deceased’s behavior is seen as contributing to their death.
• Trauma: Survivors may experience trauma from being involved in
situations ranging from taking part in a resuscitation attempt to being
exposed to media coverage of the death.