How do we address this invisibility?
Our cover story this month challenges a familiar narrative – that knowledge and willpower are enough to keep people alive. They’re not. Too many drug deaths are happening because people are alone.
Looking at why people might take drugs in isolation, I was struck by how relatable these reasons are – wanting control over the situation, avoiding judgment, not wanting to be seen, as well as the more obvious one of having nowhere else to go. But the problem with drugs is that when no one’s around to notice something going wrong, survival becomes a matter of chance.
So how do we address this invisibility? ‘Connection’ isn’t a quick policy fix – it requires culture change that should touch each one of us. It’s about running services and healthcare in the right way, yes, but it’s also about how we treat each other in everyday moments, and about building love, support and empathy into the fabric of our communities.
It’s with this in mind that we’ve decided to theme our DDN Conference this year ‘Me, Myself… Us’. True support is not about telling people to try harder – it’s about saying ‘let’s do this’. We hope you’ll join us on 9 July.
Read the April issue as an online magazine (you can also download it as a PDF from the online magazine)
Please send your letters and comment to claire@cjwellings.com
Claire Brown, editor