Over 300,000 children lose a parent to an overdose in U.S. in last decade.

An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a new study. The rate of children who experienced this loss more than doubled during this period, from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000. The highest number of affected children were those with non-Hispanic white parents, but communities of color and tribal communities were disproportionately affected.
From Science Daily 05/08/24

As I have become more familiar with the key term, ACE, adverse childhood experience, the above fact jumped out at me this morning. Having a parent with a substance abuse problem is an ACE in and of itself, but to lose a parent to their addiction takes the trauma to another level.

The question was raised on the list last week about how to help families deal with grief from the loss of a family member. How does a therapist help a family deal with the loss of a parent to an overdose? How much of the grief becomes disenfranchised and unattended due to the shame, guilt, and ambiguity of such an event?