August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day. This day is a great opportunity to spread awareness on Substance Use Disorder/Addiction by showing love, understanding and compassion!

Drug Free Fayette will be honoring International Overdose Awareness Day this year by inviting the public to join us at a short ceremony and to tie a ribbon to the Memorial Tree at the Gazebo on the square located at 140 Stonewall Avenue, Fayetteville, Georgia.

Please stop by the Memorial Tree on August 31st to add your loved one’s name to the Memorial Tree that was planted at an International Overdose Awareness Day event few years ago. We will have blank purple ribbons tied to the tree. Sharpies will be available or you can bring your own.

We ask that you take a photo and post it on the Drug Free Fayette and International Overdose Awareness Day Facebook page.

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Dr. Jennifer McGowan, Coalition member, featured in Fayette County News

“It’s motivating me to do what I do now”: PT draws from life experiences to raise awareness ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day
By Sydney Spencer, Fayette County News, 8/24/22

Dr. Jennifer McGowan treats patients daily for chronic pain. And with that comes the responsibility of appropriate pain management.

McGowan’s mission to raise awareness about overdosing, particularly from opioid addiction, is deeply rooted in her own mother’s passing due to pill dependency.

International Overdose Awareness Day is Wednesday, Aug. 31, and McGowan opened up to the Fayette County News this week about her life experiences in order to help shine the spotlight on this somber day.

Drug Free Fayette will hold its annual event at 7 p.m. that night at 140 Stonewall Ave. W to memorialize those like McGowan’s mother Laura who have lost their lives due to overdosing.

Opioid addiction has now been declared a public health emergency, and thousands still have lost their lives since this declaration, due to overdosing.

Most drug overdose cases come from fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. In 2020, over 70% of overdosing deaths involved opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Many who become addicted to opioids start with a prescription from a doctor for pain management.
McGowan’s mother Laura suffered from Crohn’s Disease, as well as bipolar depression and long-term pelvic pain. This would eventually affect her marriage, lifestyle and how McGowan and her siblings were raised.

“She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in the early 90s somewhat late 80s and how they managed that was with surgeries and opioids,” said McGowan. “Probably from the age that I was 5, my whole life she was on prescription pain pills. I didn’t realize that as a child because you’re a kid and you don’t understand that, but she was bedridden, sick, had bipolar depression as well and would take herself on and off opioids, so it looked like she was manic.”

During her childhood, McGowan remembers her mother going into remission and going to Narcotics Anonymous. She expressed how her mother became more prevalent in her life for a while but shortly after returned to prescription pain pills.  

“She had a point where she had remission and went to Narcotics Anonymous,” said McGowan. “I was 14, so in eighth grade and I remember a year of my life of her being more active and involved in my life. Then shortly thereafter she went back to using morphine and OxyContin that was prescribed by her pain doctors.”

McGowan said her mother’s addiction could likely be linked back to a half dozen surgeries she had, where doctors attempted to treat the subsequent pain with painkillers. 

“She had six abdominal surgeries, which can lead to adhesions, which can lead to severe abdominal pain. Back then, they treated Crohn’s with pain pills, which makes no sense for the gut,” said McGowan. “I think growing up for her too, she used recreational drugs, and she was probably 16 or 17. She had a pretty rough childhood herself. She was the oldest, so she took care of her and her siblings. She grew up in a dysfunctional home. When she got diagnosed, she was a young mother. She had my brother at 20, me at 23. She got diagnosed with Crohn’s at 25 and probably got prescribed opioids in that time range.”

McGowan still remembers many positive things about her mother when describing those seasons when she was clean and present as a parent.

“There were times when she was off pain pills, and she was very loving, affirming and supportive,” said McGowan. “She loved to write and read. She had very high intellect and was smart as well. She was a lovely mom, but it was so minimal. When she was not stoned on prescription pain pills, she was a really nice parent. She was a loving person just someone who got stuck.”

McGowan said her mother took her final downhill turn around her mid-40s. 

“That’s where it gets difficult too. She actually took her own life intentionally overdosing,” said McGowan. “Had she had something there, like Narcan, though she probably could’ve stopped if she changed her mind.”

Laura’s overdose followed a morphine prescription she said came from a new doctor who likely did not check on her mom’s past medical history.

“So, I found her the third time when she tried to overdose. I was 21 at that point, and she was only 44. I got there and an EMT took her to the hospital. They took her to the psychiatric hospital, and she recovered for three months. She was in another state, so she went from Ohio to Michigan and in Michigan she went to see a doctor for pain. He never looked at her past medical history and prescribed her a full bottle of morphine. Within two months, she took her own life, intentionally, with a pain pill overdose.”

McGowan believes it was a combination of factors that led to her mother’s decision to commit suicide by overdosing.

“It starts to get complicated, because she did have bipolar depression that was pretty severe as well. Then when you take pain pills on top of that, it’s not good,” said McGowan. “She just didn’t want to be here because of the pain.”

Despite the toll her family’s troubles took on her while in college, McGowan was able to successfully pursue her education by graduating with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. She notes how those troubles actually motivated her to finish the doctoral program.

“I moved on to get my doctorate. It’s motivating me to do what I do now. I am the owner of a Pelvic Physical Therapy Clinic in Peachtree City called ReGenerate Physiotherapy, where we specialize in helping to find lasting relief for pelvic health conditions,” said McGowan. “Pelvic pain is the vast majority of the problems we help with at the clinic.”

Many are struggling to break their addiction to prescription pain pills and other drugs to deal with their problems.

It is important for them to know about the resources available for them to take advantage of that will be a healthier way of coping with issues.

Anyone who needs more information about the programs offered by Drug Free Fayette or would like more information about the Aug. 31 event can contact Drug Free Fayette at drugfreefayette@fayettefactor.org or call (678) 489-3279.

For access to services and immediate crisis help, call the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225, available 24/7.