Drug Use During the Holidays The holiday season can be hard on your mental health. The pressure to spend time with an unsupportive or unsafe family, or to be by yourself during a time of year when it seems like everyone else is surrounded by loved ones, are some of the many reasons this time of year can trigger feelings of anxiousness, depression, and isolation. It’s important to be aware of how we’re feeling and take that into consideration as one part of harm reduction and drug use. Here are some other things you can keep in mind to keep yourself safer in situations that can come up during the winter holiday season. As a person who uses drugs, you may find yourself away from where you normally purchase or cop. You can take steps like using fentanyl test strips and starting out with a smaller than normal dose to protect yourself from an accidental overdose. One of the best ways to prevent death from an overdose is to make sure that you don’t use alone, and that there is Naloxone on hand to reverse an overdose. If you don’t have a choice, try checking in with a trusted friend who would be willing to stay with you on the phone and can get help if you become unresponsive or call one of the Never Use Alone phone numbers below to talk with a volunteer. You may be using more and for more days in a row than normal. If you carve out time for sleep and make sure you’re eating and drinking plenty of water, you can keep your body as healthy as possible while asking your system to work harder. You can do drugs for breakfast and brush your teeth! Covid and other upper respiratory diseases are being spread at high rates. With many people gathering indoors, you can take precautions to keep yourself and others safer. This means wearing a mask in crowded indoor places, increasing ventilation with a fan, exhaust or open window, and utilizing rapid tests before a group get-together. You may want to reconsider that walk with the cousins before dinner. Roll your own joint/spliff/ blunt to reduce the risk of spreading COVID. Don’t be scared to leave early if you are experiencing anxiety around COVID transmission, listen to your body.
Have fun, be safe, and we love you!
Never Use Alone
National: 800-484-3731 Spanish: 800-928-5330 New England: 800-972-0590 New York: 800-997-2280
www.nextdistro.org