Ryan Deneault speaking with CFJC on Nov. 25, 2024. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

NATIONAL ADDICTIONS AWARENESS WEEK

‘I had to get real with myself’: Local peer addictions coach details his journey toward recovery

Nov 25, 2024 | 5:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s Addictions Awareness Week across Canada, which serves as an opportunity for people to learn more about overdose prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and discussion solutions for change. In Kamloops, a local man is sharing his own journey with addiction and recovery in hopes of inspiring others and reducing stigma around people who use drugs or alcohol.

National Addictions Awareness week is a reflective time for Ryan Deneault. He spent years struggling with substance use, but today, he’s free from addiction and an accomplished public speaker, mentor and peer addiction coach.

“When I think about my journey, I was a functioning addict for a very, very long time. Over 30 years. And so I had this ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ lifestyle. And one of the first things that I had to do when I decided for good that I was going to conquer this was I had to get real with myself,” he notes.

Deneault says part of why he chose to open up about his experience was to open the conversation for others.

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“I get people that approach me like, ‘I know exactly how you felt. I was in the exact same spot,’ or ‘I’m struggling right now and I’m scared to tell my employer or my family,’ or whatever the case may be,” says Deneault. “It’s opened up this space little space for people to approach me. It happens all the time.”

In 2024, the BC Coroners Service reported that 74 per cent of people who died from an unregulated drug overdose were men and nearly half (48 per cent) of all unregulated drug deaths took place in private homes. Deneault feels stigma and less immediate access to overdose prevention supports play a role in that.

“That’s what people are doing in our community who are in the same lifestyle that I was in,” he explains. “They’re not using with people. They’re using by themselves in their homes in the middle of the night and that’s why there is no support for them. And if something happens or they get a bad batch, they end up passing because there’s nobody there with them.”

Troylana Manson is among the members of Moms Stop the Harm Kamloops who have been vocal about safe supply policies to combat the deadly impact of unregulated drugs. And in the grand scheme of things, they’ve also pointed to addressing the root cause behind someone’s substance use as a prevention method.

“We sometimes focus too much on the substances or the behaviours of addictions, and not look back as to how did these people get to the point where they were using these kinds of paths and ways to alleviate their pain?’ she reiterates.

At the very lease, the hope is Addictions Awareness Week can serve as a reminder those who are struggling that they’re not alone, and resources are out there.

“We have to have some really hard conversations with ourselves, and we need to set up policies and procedures that allow people to put their hand up and say, ‘I’m struggling and I need help,'” adds Deneault.