Holy Cross Professor Shares Advice on Supporting Those Grieving Opioid Epidemic Victims

As part of her research on grief in the American opioid epidemic, Emily B. Campbell, visiting lecturer of sociology, spoke to grieving mothers who lost children to opioid addiction. In a piece written for The Conversation, she shared some advice on how to care for those who have lost loved ones to addiction, particularly during the often painful holiday season.

For example, Campbell says that using the name of the person who died can be a comfort for their loved ones.

"Names matter. One of the things that came up time and again from mothers who had lost their children to overdose was missing the sound of their child's name," Campbell wrote. "One mother explained the change from hearing and saying her son's name many times a day to not hearing it spoken at all. For her, the difference between, 'I'm sorry for the loss of your son' and 'I'm sorry for the loss of Jim' is profound."

Read the rest of Campbell's recommendations at The Conversation.