Overdose Awareness Without Stigma: Remember, Learn, Act

Overdose awareness can hold grief, facts, and hope at the same time. During Overdose Awareness Week—and on International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31—communities can remember people who died, support those who are grieving, and share actions that may save a life.

The way we speak matters. The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that stigma can discourage people with substance use disorders from seeking treatment and can shape how others respond to them. A respectful event or message begins by seeing a whole person, not reducing anyone to a diagnosis, a substance, or the way they died.

Remember with care

If your Lodge, school, coalition, or family plans a remembrance:

• Ask permission before sharing a person’s name, photograph, or story.
• Let families and people with lived experience choose how they are described.
• Use person-first terms such as “person with a substance use disorder” or “person in recovery.”
• Avoid labels, blame, graphic details, or images of a person in distress.
• Pair remembrance with current help and overdose-response information.

A quiet display of lights, a moment of reflection, or a community resource table can be meaningful without turning someone’s loss into a warning story. Make room for people who do not want to speak publicly.

Learn the response steps

Recognizing a possible opioid overdose can save a life. Signs may include being unable to wake the person, slow or shallow breathing, choking or gurgling sounds, discolored lips or nails, or very small pupils that do not react to light.

If you are not sure whether someone is experiencing an overdose, treat it as an emergency:

1. Call 911. Tell the dispatcher what you see and follow their instructions.
2. Give naloxone if it is available. Follow the product directions.
3. Support breathing and prevent choking. Try to keep the person awake and breathing; place them on their side if directed and if you can do so safely.
4. Stay until help arrives. Do not assume the danger has passed after naloxone is given.

Naloxone is an overdose-reversal medication that can restore breathing during an opioid overdose. The CDC notes that anyone can carry and give naloxone, and over-the-counter options are available. A pharmacist, local health department, or community distribution program can explain where to obtain it and how to use the product you carry.

Turn awareness into one local action

Choose an action your community can complete and sustain:

• Invite a local health department or qualified community organization to provide naloxone education.
• Post the overdose signs and emergency steps where volunteers can find them.
• Add FindTreatment.gov and local treatment and recovery contacts to your resource table.
• Review public communications for stigmatizing language and replace labels with accurate, person-first terms.
• Ask people with lived experience what support would be useful before designing an event for them.

For a medical emergency, call 911. For mental-health, suicide, or substance-use crisis support, call or text 988. SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) provides free, confidential treatment referral and information in English and Spanish.

A simple framework for August 31

1. Remember: Honor people and families with consent and dignity.
2. Learn: Teach the signs of overdose and the steps to respond.
3. Act: Connect one person, organization, or event to a practical resource.

Take the next step: Use SAMHSA’s Overdose Awareness Week Toolkit to plan one respectful local action before August 31, and keep the resource available after the observance ends.

Sources and further reading

• SAMHSA: Overdose Awareness Week and International Overdose Awareness Day
• CDC: What to Do If You Think Someone Is Overdosing
• NIDA: Words Matter—Terms to Use and Avoid When Talking About Addiction
• SAMHSA: Crisis Help