NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups

The NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group program is happening in Washington. These peer/consumer led groups meet once a week for 90 minutes and offer a structured group process designed to encourage, support and empower people on the path to recovery. Connection support groups, open to peers and consumers with any diagnosis, are forming all over the country.

NAMI National and NAMI Washington are hosting the event. NAMI National Peer/Consumer Connection Trainers will lead the training. We are looking for peer/consumer volunteers to form a team for this purpose, and attend a free weekend training event to become support group facilitators.

Transportation, single room and all meals are provided. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn new skills and give back to others who will greatly benefit from this weekly recovery resource.

To sign up, contact Laurie Scott at laurie_es@comcast.net or 425-641-0745 or contact Beth Gould toll free at 866-461-4569.

Held: September 26-28
Location: Seattle, WA
Hotel: TBA

Fall Family-to-Family in Richland

NAMI’s free 12-week Family-to-Family education program for family members and friends of individuals suffering from severe mental illness will be offered in Richland. The class will begin on Thursday, September 4 and will run for twelve consecutive Thursday evenings through November 20.

To Learn more about the material covered in the course and/or register, call Sara at 628-9625. A second class is also planned for spring 2009. Space is limited and classes fill quickly.

Ten Things I Learned at the NAMI Convention

1. There are millions of people who would have died of heart disease except that early intervention prevented it. Researchers are hopeful that similarly early intervention can prevent the psychosis of schizophrenia.
2. Many researchers are coming to believe that psychosis is the late stage of schizophrenia, that there are certain combinations of early symptoms that actually signal the onset of the disease.
3. Schizophrenia is a disease of brain circuitry.
4. The prodromal phase of bipolar disorder is not as well understood as that of schizophrenia.
5. Contrary to advertisements, there is no useful blood test for bipolar disorder.
6. Very often primary care doctors do not pay sufficient attention to the physical illnesses of those with serious mental illness.
7. There are a number of new medications in development for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that use entirely different mechanisms for treatment.
8. Cognitive behavior therapy help people learn to live with their voices.
9. Psychiatrists must pay attention to major weight gain by their patients.
10. For the first time in human history there is a way forward in developing understanding of and treatments for serious mental illness that is not limited to human intellect. The limitations are financial.

If you want to meet dedicated and accomplished consumers, activists, researchers, treatment professionals, and family members from across the country, attend a NAMI National Convention. The next will be held in San Francisco, July 6-9, 2009.