How do you deal with the death of a family member if his death was caused by an overdose?

Answer 1

I can only speak for myself: I would pray for them in exactly the same way as if they had overdosed and lived. I think we all need prayers, living and dead; and how the person has died does not change that.

It is a difficult time for anyone who loses a family member. How the family member died is most distessing for everyone concerned. Trying to give someone advice is most difficult when one does not know the family. However perhaps we can think of the family members death as a relief or release not only to the deceased but to all concerned. Look at it as an accident just waiting to happen, and so it has. The deceased is no longer addicted to drugs, there were no agonizing withdrawal weeks that had to be endured, but a peaceful passing from the prison they were held in. Now at peace in a place where they are free at last, enjoying the company of those family members who have passed on before. You who remain behind remember, though they may be dead to you; yet are they alive in Christ, and you will have the opportunity to see them again. Be happy for them and remember the good times you shared together. Learn from their mistakes and enjoy your fondest memories of someone you loved in life, and love more in death. Consider the possibility that the overdose was not intentional. I know from personal experience that people have died from accidental overdosing of medications or drugs. In this case, your loved one did not intend to die and leave you; they still loved you and never intended to leave you at all. They just made a mistake which caused them (and their loved ones) to suffer the results of the ultimate consequence - death. Try not to be angry at them for the way they died; even if it was intentional they had to have been in a lot of emotional pain, and just didn't know any other way to stop the pain. Either way, you have to forgive them. But if you have been blaming yourself (thinking you should have known, or should have been there, or done 'this or that', etc.) then please, do NOT think that way. No one can ever really know what is going on in another person's mind, so there is no way to know this would have happened. But I do believe your loved one would want you to forgive, and to move on with your life, and live you life in a way that would make him proud of you. That's really all any of us can do when we lose a loved one.