The concept for W-BAD is really quite simple. It’s a unified effort of people coming together once a year on July 11th to raise awareness together in solidarity. Below are some suggestions – everything from low to higher impact activities depending on individual circumstances and capabilities.

Use the Hashtag

Whenever participating in W-BAD or posting anything related online, please always include the hashtag as it helps create a wider public following for our cause

#WORLDBENZODAY

 

Materials

There is a large range of ready to use materials available (see materials page and handouts page).

Suggested Activities

• Distributing W-BAD pamphlets / posting into letterboxes
• Hosting a W-BAD awareness event and bring your pamphlets with you to a simple picnic, in-person benzo withdrawal support group, pot-luck, sporting event, or other appropriate venues to talk about W-BAD
• Sponsoring W-BAD during a sporting event (for those who are able supporters etc.), such as running, going on a hike, or walking for a cause
• Rallying outside Health Ministries or District Health Boards or Boards of Medicine
• Dropping off pamphlets in public places and putting them up on bulletin boards where informative brochures and ads may be found (hospitals, in particular ones with detox facilities, can sometimes be a good place to start!)
• Asking local businesses who seem receptive to W-BAD for their permission to set up a campaign station
• Getting state recognition in your state
• Taking a stroll through your city or peaceful park or other public places and talking with anyone who may be interested in hearing your story. Supplying them with a pamphlet and/or brochure and encouraging them to get involved too!
• Talking about W-BAD with a stranger, a friend or relative. Discussing the information on the pamphlets and effecting Change Through Unity!

Low Impact Activities

“High impact, low intensity” activities to help observe this day for those whose abilities are more limited:

• Using the W-BAD profile images and Facebook frames for social media
• Liking/subscribing and/or sharing the W-BAD Facebook page and YouTube channel (currently unavailable due to recent internal subversion)
  
• Simply telling any one person when it’s World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day
• Spreading the word by including the W-BAD website link when posting comments in reply to related online articles or discussions about benzodiazepines
• Posting something somewhere on the internet that isn’t usually associated with benzodiazepines (to reach those who wouldn’t otherwise know)
• Doing research on benzodiazepines and sharing what you’ve learned with others
• Sharing pamphlets (anywhere and everywhere)
• Wearing a W-BAD T-shirt / Sharing gifts from the W-BAD store (to bring awareness)
• Telling a medical worker when it’s World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day
• Writing a letter (local MP, politician, medical worker etc)
• Giving a doctor a copy of The Ashton Manual or something similar
• Contacting the media (local newspaper, local radio or TV station) explaining World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day and why “being aware” is so important
• Putting up posters
• Making a video testimonial – please share them with W-BAD (currently unavailable due to recent internal subversion)
• Telling your story
• Blogging about benzodiazepines and World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day
• Liking and commenting on shared posts of #WORLDBENZODAY to open up a dialogue
• Sharing and liking other people’s videos, stories, testimonials, blogs, etc on social media (use the hashtag #WORLDBENZODAY on all of the social media platforms).
• Participating in podcasts

In contributing towards raising awareness for W-BAD in any way, you are being proactive!

Please share your activism on social media and set these posts to “public” and use the #WORLDBENZODAY hashtag for further reach.

W-BAD Art – Be Creative

Many people participate by expressing themselves through art, cinematography and music as shown in the 10.38 ~ 12.40 min mark of the W-BAD Wrap Up Video.

See W-BAD Art Page

You can create your own graphics and memes to share on July 11th, as a campaigner from Canada has done below.

*Note: it can be useful to cite statistics information!

Think Outside the Square

People are welcome to think outside the square and do things a little different such as the 2017 W-BAD Dog Walk in Pennsylvania or the sidewalk chalk campaign etc.

Come up with original ideas such as Amy did by creating the idea of pull-tab flyers, now available on the materials page.

Things to Consider

Not everyone is comfortable publicly associating themselves with a medication that harmed them which just happens to also be a controlled substance. This inappropriate stigma could be one of the contributing factors to ignorance of the matter and a reluctance to speak openly about it. However, W-BAD seeks to clarify that most people who are injured by benzodiazepines are not addicts nor do they have substance use disorders. Addiction can occur alongside physical dependence, but treatment for that may entail addiction counseling treatment. In most cases of people injured by benzodiazepines, however, they just took a medication as prescribed…and it made them sick.

This day is primarily about:

• Education and awareness
• Providing victims a sense of purpose
• Commemorating Prof. Ashton’s research
• Validating the damage sustained by sufferers
• Acknowledging a medication-induced health condition
• Building a sense of camaraderie so sufferers, supporters and their loved ones do not feel alone

Maximizing Effectiveness

To be more effective when it comes to participation, it is advisable to become familiar with the following:

• Language
• Functionality
• Principles
• Protocols

Focal Points of Our Activism

• The problem is with the mismanagement of the drugs (over / prolonged / poly – prescribing with no help for victims); not so much the drugs purely by themselves, which may benefit some people in some cases, when used for less than the recommended maximum of 2-4 weeks (Objectivity is more powerful than slander. Although there is, no doubt, understandable reasons for it).
• This is not a question of “drug abuse” or “misuse” (see addiction versus physical dependence). This is about reckless prescribing and decades of propaganda, incompetence, neglect, and failure to recognize the withdrawal syndrome and/or the resultant lingering damage to the brain and central nervous system, which can last years (protracted withdrawal syndrome).
• Trust in doctors and politicians has been shattered.
• Socioeconomic implications and impact on taxpayers (not just the sufferers): accidents, fatalities, suicides, aggressive behavior/assault, job loss, the cost of hospital admissions, etc.