About John
John Strain
May 24,1963- Dec 27, 2021
John’s Journey is about a charismatic man and person whom throughout his life, dealt with addictions, mental health, and personal struggles that many people may currently struggle within their own lives today. John was a brilliant man, loving brother, and son, and was much loved by his family and friends who empathized and understood his plight but could not help him no matter how much they tried. John’s Journey is a walk for not only the memory of his life and struggles, but it is a walk for everyone else who struggles with or has family and friends that have addictions and mental health issues. John’s Journey is not to celebrate the ending; it is a walk towards a fresh start, a new journey filled with the promise of hope, health, wellness, understanding, healing, and faith for everyone that deals with these issues in their lives.
John began having issues as a teenager starting with marijuana which led to alcohol and more serious drugs such as cocaine, crack, and meth, and although his family tried to help him, he could not find a way to resolve his personal struggles and addictions. John was also diagnosed in his 40’s with bipolar disorder, a mental disorder that affects 1% of youth from the age of 15 years and older. Bipolar statistics indicated that,
“About 1 in 50 adults aged 25-44 years or 45-64 years reported symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder at some point in their lifetime. The proportion of men and women who met the lifetime criteria for bipolar disorder decreased slightly with age according to the 2002 Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey, Statistics Canada;
Nine out of 10 Canadians who reported symptoms that met the 12-month criteria for bipolar disorder (86. Nine percent) reported that the condition interfered with their lives. (2002 Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey, Statistics Canada)
While most people with bi-polar disorder (or depression) will not commit suicide, the risk of suicide among those with bipolar disorder is higher than in the general population.” (Canada, 2009)
Throughout his life John entered many addiction programs dedicated to helping individuals with both mental health and drug and alcohol issues, he was the top valedictorian, achieving sobriety for a brief time but he always relapsed. John could have taught the classes that helped him to try to overcome his personal addictions, which is how great he was; John strived for the best, excelled at being the best but could never vanquish his personal addictions. Statistics in Canada for Alcohol and Drug use indicate that:
“(a)bout 4% of Canadians could be considered alcoholics. In the past decade, about 600,000 Canadians have become physically dependent on alcohol. An approximate 2,000 people die each year from liver disease, all of which are brought about by alcoholism. Many of those who have found comfort in alcohol have also used illegal drugs to top everything off.” (S, 2019)
Addiction is a complicated process and these forms of substance use and behaviours can affect a person’s life. Addiction is compulsive use of a stimuli (alcohol, gambling, cocaine, meth, crack, etc) despite harmful and adverse effects and outcomes. It is estimated that 5% of the world’s population has used an illegal substance and, “240 million people around the world use alcohol problematically, and approximately 15 million people use injection drugs.” (S, 2019) These addictions may cause both physical and/or psychological damage and dependence. There are four important signs when talking about addiction: craving, Loss of control of amount and frequency of use, need to use, and repeated substance use despite the outcomes.
In Canada, almost 21% of the population (six million people) will meet the criteria for addiction use with alcohol being the most used substance at 18 percent. Marijuana has one of the highest rates of use in the world with 40 percent of Canadians experimenting and using cannabis and ten pe cent using it in the past year. (Association, 2022)
The addictions that held John lasted from his teenager years until December 27, 2021, when he was found deceased, alone, without anything other than clothes on him. His family was notified of his death and although it was a shock, it was not unexpected, you see, John had been spiraling for years in the clutches of his personal addictions and mental health issues. John had contemplated and even attempted suicide before, but as to the reason for his death, it is unknown what was the main cause, his use of alcohol, drugs, or something else. His family is still waiting for the Medical Examiners report to verify what may have happened to him. This is something that is a constant for his family, wondering what happened and hoping it was not self-inflicted. In memory, we are holding this walk for John and everyone else that has endured similar issues and losses: John’s Journey.
We hope to raise awareness regarding mental health and addiction and recovery issues because no one should have to be alone, no family member should ever have to hear that their family member has passed because of addictions that can lead to early death, and no one should feel like they cannot reach out for help to find resources and a helping hand that may provide the necessary tools and resources to assist them to greater health and stability. I know there are many who can empathize, sympathize, and understand this very personal issue because either you or someone you love has had similar issues. Without assistance nothing can be done to overcome or assist those that need aid towards a better path and this walk is dedicated to that goal! Help by contributing a donation towards John’s Journey!
