Trending
An area chapter of Grief Recovery After Substance Passing will hold its first meeting this weekend.
The new Upper Ohio Valley chapter of GRASP will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Betty Beebe Habig Room at WVU Medicine-Reynolds Memorial Hospital, 800 Wheeling Ave., Glen Dale. The group is for parents, spouses, siblings, cousins and close friends whose loved ones died of substance abuse-related causes.
Wheeling resident Shelley Rohrig, whose son's death in 1999 was fueled by alcohol, is leading the new group. She became involved in GRASP at the suggestion of Sarah Barickman, outreach director for Altmeyer Funeral Homes, and Eugene Fahey, Altmeyer's vice president and general manager.
Barickman knew several grief support groups operated in the Ohio Valley, but none was geared specifically to help people who have lost a loved one through substance abuse. She conducted some research and learned of GRASP, a national organization that has chapters in Huntington and Columbus.
The organization requires chapter leaders to have at least one year of experience in grief recovery. Fahey suggested Rohrig as a good candidate for this role.
Barickman and Rohrig said some people may be reluctant to join other grief support groups because of perceived stigma with substance abuse.
"Having a place where people have experienced the same type of loss is real important," said Barickman.
Rohrig said she thinks a definite need for the group exists in the area.
"Everyone can come and talk freely because everyone understands what we're going through," she said.
In addition to grieving the loss of their loved ones, surviving relatives and friends may feel irrational guilt over a death related to drugs or alcohol. When Mark Rohrig died at age 20, his parents were unaware of the college student's severe depression and drinking problem.
"I didn't see that he was in deep depression," said his mother. "I never knew. I didn't see it. He was drinking a case (of beer) a night and still going to class. I don't blame anyone. I don't even blame Mark."
"My favorite saying is 'When God closes a window, He opens a door, but it is hell in the hallway,'" said Rohrig, who sponsors young women in recovery. "It is dark. It is hell. But keep walking. Eventually you're going to see a light. The hallway is so long sometimes, (but) you're going to get there."
The new group will continue to meet at Reynolds at 2 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month. For details, contact Rohrig at 304-277-4630, 304-280-0608 or srohrig49@yahoo.com.