Family-to Family: Week 4

Note: One of our current Family-to-Family participants is writing a weekly series of her experience in NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 12-week class. This is her fourth post.

Week 4 of Family-to-Family presents a broad review of the scientific evidence supporting the not widely accepted view that so-called psychiatric illness are, in reality, organic brain disorders; meaning that they are every bit as much diseases without blame as other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy.

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but what we choose to label a class of illnesses has a dramatic effect on how it's perceived by others. For instance, compare the connotations of the following terms: mental illness, psychiatric disorder, mood disorder, neurological disorder. Which type of illness do you think garners the most compassion from family members, friends, employers and healthcare providers?

Generally speaking, all of these terms are synonymous. Yet by classifying some disorders of the brain as psychiatric or mood disorders or, more commonly, mental illnesses, the medical establishment seems to be supporting the outmoded and terribly detrimental belief that these illnesses are caused by "weaknesses" of character, morality or family values. This point of view has been with us for so long and is so entrenched that even caring family members can have trouble fully internalizing the knowledge that their loved ones are not to some extent willing participants in their conditions.

Even my own beliefs, as someone who has struggled with depression, as a daughter, friend, aunt, sister and advocate of people with mental illness, were challenged by some of the research -- showing just how deeply we hold on to the conviction that people with mental illness have the ability to will ourselves well, to overcome our "shortcomings." It may be that this point of view offers us some incremental hope in the face of daunting statistics about recovery and a broken mental health system. It may also be that we need somewhere to direct our feelings of frustration, inadequacy, anger and hurt.

Whatever the reasons, the hard scientific evidence gives us the tools to further fight stigma, in our own hearts as well as in the judicial system, the healthcare and insurance industries and the general population.

For more information, visit the Family-to-Family section on NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's website.

Last Chance Benefit

Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic (WPIC) is hosting a Last Chance Raffle to benefit the NAMI Walk. To order your tickets, call Marlene at (412) 586-9054. Drawing will be held Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Donate $5 for one chance or $10 for three chances to win one of the following prizes:

--The Detroit "white out" towel given the night the Penguin's won the Stanley Cup AND two tickets to the Feb. 10 game against the Islanders (Igloo section).

--An original 8x10 photo of Sidney Crosby and Marc Andre Fleury with the Stanley Cup from the June 15, 2009 Victory Parade AND an autographed shirt from #87 himself - Sidney Crosby.

Donate $2 for one chance and $5 for three chances to win one of the following prizes:

--Family Night Gift Basket

--Two Applehill Playhouse Flex Passes (good for four admissions each)

--Two tickets to the Carousel Pittsburgh Playhouse (Nov. 5-15)

--Two tickets (Orchestra Center, Row B) at the Benedum Center to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular on Nov. 19

New NAMI Connections Group

We understand how you feel because we've been there...

A new NAMI Connections Recovery Peer Support Group is up and running on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at UCP Pittsburgh located at 4368 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

NAMI Connections is a 90-minute support group run by persons who live with mental illness for other persons who live with mental illness. The program includes NAMI-trained peer facilitators and employs principles of support designed to empower its members. This program focuses on allowing all participants to share their experiences and learn from each other in a safe and confidential environment.

NAMI Connection is not illness-specific and welcomes persons with all psychiatric diagnoses.

For more information about NAMI Connections, or to find a group near you, visit the Support Group Page of the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Family-to-Family, Week 3

Note: One of our current Family-to-Family participants is writing a weekly series of her experience in NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 12-week class. This is her third post.

Back for week three at Family-to-Family and, even though I'm dead tired after a day of work, I'm looking forward to tonight's topic: Types of bipolar disease, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder. These labels are bandied around so much in the media--in news reports, talk shows and TV series--that they become one confusing jumble of overlapping symptoms. I'm anxious to get some clarification.

However, as our co-teachers present the content, and I mentally flip through the catalog of symptoms experienced by various family members, friends, and myself, I'm still at a loss. Which makes one thing very clear: at any given point in time, each and every person's position on the spectrum of mental illness, from perfectly healthy to severely incapacitated, can and does change.

The second half of class is reserved for each member of the group to talk about their loved one and share their story, mapping where they are currently to the stages of dealing with a loved one's mental illness. Much like the stages of grief, the stages of dealing with mental illness detail the range of attitudes one experiences during the process of coming to terms with the drastic rearrangement of one's life, hopes and dreams that occurs in the wake of serious mental illness.

Heavy stuff for a Monday. But hearing the stories of the others in this class, learning how they and their loved ones have struggled, how some have persevered, while others are still searching for a light at the end of the tunnel, leaves me feeling as though I am surrounded by untold strength.

For more information, visit the Family-to-Family section on NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's website.

Losing Lambert Airs Tonight

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania will be part of a live, participating studio audience tonight for OnQ Close-up: Teen Suicide on WQED at 7:30 p.m.

At 8 p.m., WQED will premiere the 30-minute documentary of Losing Lambert: A Journey of Survival and Hope.

The documentary tells the story of a NAMI volunteer, Kathy, who lost her son Lambert to suicide 16 years ago. She transformed her pain and loss into a life of helping other people.

We introduced Kathy to WQED producer David Solomon after another episode on teenage suicide we were part of in April. Click here to see a clip of our Executive Director Chris Michaels on that program.

Tune in to WQED tonight at 7:30 for this important episode.

NAMI at Heart Expo

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania participated in BNY Mellon's "Heart Expo" last Tuesday. The expo was a wellness fair held in Pittsburgh at One BNY Mellon Center, downtown.

The Heart Expo is put on by BNY Mellon employees for all of its employees to educate and promote wellness among their staff. The company has a great health resource network, called LifeWorks, available for its employees. LifeWorks is both an online and telephone hotline where employees can speak confidentially and receive referrals for community resources for childcare, assisted living centers, parenting help, financial aid, physical and mental health resources, and addiction and recovery programs.

In addition to the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania information table, others in attendance were the Epilepsy Foundation, Stroke Survivor Connection, American Lung Association, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, Arthritis Foundation, The Children's Home and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. HealthSouth Home Health was on hand to take blood pressure readings, and three massage chairs were available to anyone who wanted a mid-day stress reliever.

Posted by guest blogger Susan Harrington of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania.

We Have A Budget!

After 101 days of budget impasse, the House Appropriations bill was passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. Rendell on Friday, Oct. 9.

"The budget is a good one. It's a realistic one," said Gov. Rendell. He apologized for what he called an "unconscionable delay" in delivering a finished spending plan.

Mental Health Funding

The state budget total for mental health services in the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is $728.730 million, down from the Governor's request of $730.58 million.

The line item funds both the community mental health programs and the state-operated psychiatric hospitals. The budget includes a two percent across-the-board reduction to the county allocation, about $3.055 million. This amount is expected to be absorbed within OMHSAS administrative costs and through reduction in the state hospital appropriations.

There is an increase of $1.5 million to support post-closure programs related to the Mayview State Hospital closing.

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly our Director of Education & Community Relations Sharon Miller, took a leadership role in advocating for the end of the budget impasse. We would like to thank everyone who tirelessly contacted Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders to urge for the passage of a state budget protecting essential services and supports for people with mental illness.

This post was excerpted from an email alert from Sharon Miller. Click here for a full report.

Family-to-Family: Week 2

Note: One of our current Family-to-Family participants is writing a weekly series on her experience in NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 12-week class. This is her second post.

Upon entering the room on week two, I'm greeted by name by several attendees, and surprisingly, as I'm really bad with names, am able to return the greetings in kind. This kind of bonding can only come about so quickly through shared trial, and although we've not been through the emotional twister of a mental illness together, all of us in this room have been touched in a similar way by its brutal force.

After a quick passing around of notices about upcoming seminars and conferences, one of our co-leaders points out the collection of books on the counter--her personal library of resources that she invites us to borrow during the course of the remaining 10 weeks. Then we plunge into the information starting with answers to four questions:

Why can't someone just tell us what the diagnosis is?

Why is the response to mental illness so different from the response to another medical illness?

What are the basics we need to know about psychotic illness?

Why do people change so drastically when they become psychotic and what are they actually experiencing?

Who hasn't asked at least one of the questions at one time or another? And why, despite all the doctor's appointments, phone calls, emergency room visits and frustration, has it taken this long for someone to answer them?

The second half of the class (after the short break for coffee, cookies and family networking) focuses on the characteristics of major depression and mania, and defines schizoaffective disorder. Most amazingly, it ends with a realistic, concrete and practical discussion of how to deal with our loved ones when they are a danger to themselves, others or to us. Family members are not given this information when their loved ones are enrolled in residential or outpatient programs, and there is no "Handbook of How to Deal" when your loved one is arrested. But, here I discover that invaluable advice spelled out in plain text in my Family-to-Family binder and labeled appropriately "Crisis File." Who knew?

For more information, visit the Family-to-Family section on NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's website.

Healthy Eating

There is a strong connection between a person's mental and physical health. Lifestyle choices such as healthy eating and exercise make a big impact on our overall wellness. NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania and Nutrition Systems presented a demo on healthy eating last night at REI in the SouthSide Works. Presenter Meridith Paterson, MS, RD, LDN, gave us great ideas on healthy eating and snacking.

One of Meridith's tips was to eat something every four hours to maintain blood glucose and energy levels throughout the day. However, portion control -- or Portion Distortion, as Meridith calls it -- is the key. Below is a healthy snack recipe. The key is only consuming one half-cup serving at a time.

The cereal, pretzels and fruit provide carbohydrates for energy and fiber to help slow down the release of sugar into our bloodstream. The chocolate M&Ms provide energy and are okay to have once in awhile in moderation. Nuts provide protein and fat that work with the carbohydrate to give us staying power. This combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat make trail mix a great choice for athletic activities and snacking.

Trail Mix

In a large bowl, mix together:

2 cups cereal (Crispix, Cheerios, Shreddies, Corn Bran, or any cereal that stays crunchy. Use a mixture for variety.)

1 cup pretzels

1 cup dried fruit (raisins or mixed dried fruit)

1/2 cup nuts and seeds

1/4 cups M&Ms or Smarties plain chocolates

The mixture makes five cups and can be stored in a sealed container for up to one month. Don't forget an appropriate snack size is half a cup!

Eating for Energy

As a follow-up to the NAMI Walk, Nutrition Systems and NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania present Eating for Energy:

Eating for Energy
Wednesday, Oct. 14
7 to 8 p.m.
REI (SouthSide Works)
412 S. 27th St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
No cost to attend

Whether you exercise regularly or just want to gain more energy for your daily life, nutrition can play an important role. At the Eating for Energy demo, healthy snack samples will be provided along with some recipes for powerhouse snacks. Also, become a portion pro! Learn what an appropriate portion size is and measure up your current portions.

Our featured presenter is NAMI volunteer Meridith Paterson, MS, RD, LDN, of Community LIFE.

Family-to-Family: Week One

Note: One of our current Family-to-Family participants is writing a weekly series of her experience in NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 12-week class. This is her first post.

My first indication that NAMI's Family-to-Family program was going to be much more than I expected was the large binders placed at every seat around the square of tables. I had expected some handouts, but not enough for a two-and-a-half inch binder. As we went through the agenda, I discovered just how intense the program is. Family-to-Family is much more than an informational support group; it's hard core education from those who have been-there-done-that-and-more.


But don't be deterred. Like water to the thirsty, the education you get from Family-to-Family will soak in to your brain without effort. As we went around the room introducing ourselves, I was amazed by the range of experiences among our group members. And yet, as each person described their situation, I could make connections to things that had happened in my own life. And, unlike my high school geometry class, when we started in on the handouts, I felt one "ah-ha" moment after another rather than one long "duh" moment.


This first session introduced us to the objectives of the class and what to expect, as well as getting us all acquainted with each other. Next week, we'll learn about the specific symptoms of major depression, schizophrenia and mania and discuss how those symptoms affect our loved ones.


For more information, visit the Family-to-Family section on the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

NAMI Walk in the News

The NAMI Walk on Sunday attracted over 2,000 people to the SouthSide Works to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness. The walk attracted both WTAE-TV and WPXI-TV, enabling us reach nearly a million households with our message of hope and recovery.

Below is footage that appeared on the six o'clock Channel 4 news after the walk. If you cannot view this, click here for a free download of Apple's Quick Time, which be installed in under a minute.