In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, Wasatch Crest’s Clinical Director, Rich McDonald, CMHC, sat down with Treatment Magazine to discuss the issue of overdose and how to prevent it. An excerpt is included below, and you can read the full article by Jenny Diedrich here.
“We caught up with a treatment professional to gather some thoughts on what this solemn day means
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, and addiction treatment centers, recovery professionals and loved ones are remembering those who were lost to drug overdoses.
The global event is held each year on Aug. 31 to raise awareness around overdoses and addiction, and reduce the stigma associated with a drug-related death. International Overdose Awareness Day also is meant to acknowledge the grief of families and friends whose lives were permanently altered by fatal ODs.
Unfortunately, it’s a problem that’s only growing more tragic. More than 93,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an ignominious record that marked a 29% increase from the 72,151 OD deaths in 2019.
For a few insights into the subject on this important day, TreatmentMagazine.com touched base with Rich McDonald, MS, CMHC, clinical director at the Utah-based Wasatch Crest Addiction Treatment Center. Given the nature of his position, McDonald has had an up-close look at the opioid epidemic and the resulting devastation.”
