Happy Holidays from NAMI

We at the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania office would like to extend our best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season! Our offices will be closed on Dec. 24, 25 and 26 and Jan. 1.

The NAMI Blog will be taking a holiday break and return with new posts on Monday, Jan. 4.

Free Christmas Dinner

FREE DINNERS are available for individuals in need on Christmas Day at three locations.

Omni William Penn

525 William Penn Place

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Westin Convention Center

1000 Penn Ave

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sheraton Station Square

7 Station Square Drive

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The dinners are free and the participants must select one of the three places and can bring a guest.

Here is what is needed from the participant:

• Name (Last and First)
• Date of Birth
• Address
• City, State, Zip Code
• Telephone number
• Family size
• Choice of hotel and number of tickets needed

The participant should contact Ms. Donna Hurst at (412) 325-3926 with the above information and pick up the ticket(s) at 610 Wood St. on the 3rd floor, as directed.

Tickets must be picked up by tomorrow Dec. 23 between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. (noon).

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania thanks the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh for sharing this information.

Grinch Likely Depressed, Suffers from Lack of Joy

This article is taken from the December issue of bp MAGAZINE.

The Grinch, who lives atop Mt. Crumpet, is likely depressed, says University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill psychologist Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D.

"Everybody's always so down on the Grinch," says Bulik, the William R. Jeanne H. Jordan Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders in UNC's Department of Psychiatry. "But one of the things I've always asked myself is whether the Grinch himself might be feeling kind of down.

"When people think about depression they often think about people being sad," says Bulik, who has not officially treated the Grinch but is very familiar with his story.

Being irritable, grumpy and seeking social isolation are also hallmarks of depression, and could explain the Grinch's disdain for the Who -- the tall and the small -- his mistreatment of his dog Max and, ultimately, why he tried to stop Christmas from coming.

"Especially around the holidays you look around and everyone seems to be feeling the joy, but inside you're just feeling dark and miserable," Bulik says. "It's that contrast between how you're feeling inside and how all those happy people are feeling out there that can really be torture for someone who has depression."

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Grinch isn't alone. The lifetime incidence of depression ranges from about eight percent to 20 percent. Depression "interferes with daily life, normal functioning, and causes pain for both the person with the disorder and those who care about him or her," according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

"One of the things that happens with people who are depressed, and we see this especially with the Grinch, is that people don't really want to be around him, and he doesn't want to be around people," Bulik says. "So, he's not getting a lot of love."

And, she points out depression can have physical manifestations. The Grinch is overweight, is badly in need of dental work and, Bulik says, "I think what we might be seeing is that his heart might be shriveling from a lack of love."

The Grinch might also be suffering from seasonal affective disorder, which is associated with fewer hours of daylight, Bulik says. "There are a lot of people who get depressed as the days get shorter and fall and winter arrive."

So, Bulik says, besides learning that Christmas doesn't come from a store, we can learn from the Grinch that depression doesn't always manifest as sadness.

"If there's someone in your life who is just really irritable and miserable, and just not getting any joy out of life, you have to wonder whether they might be being challenged by depression," Bulik says. "Reach out and see if some of your friends who are not doing well could use some help."

For more information on depression or other mental illnesses, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Family-to-Family Week 10

Note: One of our current Family-to-Family participants is writing a weekly series about her experience in NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 12-week education program. This is her 10th post.

When a loved one's behavior changes and a diagnosis of mental illness is made, the family's immediate concern is for the present situation--getting their loved one appropriate treatment. But, what happens after that? Until the late 80s, the treatment model for mental illness did not extend beyond stabilization and maintenance. People were given medication and therapy to control their symptoms or behaviors, but there was no discussion of recovery. People with mental illness and their families were given no vision of hope for moving beyond the status quo.

However, with the input of family members and mental health consumers, and the creation of innovative rehabilitation programs, recovery has become the focus of long-term treatment. Our Family-to-Family class discussed the concept of recovery, how it means something different for each individual, and how it begins with an individuals decision to "lead a hopeful life and to make a contribution in spite of the limitations imposed by illness" (Patricia Deegan, Consumer and Clinical Psychologist).

Our guest speaker for the second half of the class was a recovering mental health consumer, who had been through years of misdiagnosis, treatments, tests and hospitalizations. She is now starting her own business, based on helping others with mental illness and is taking an active role in advocating for others as well.

One point in this week's class that struck me was that until an individual has the self awareness to make this decision, we can provide them with understanding, patience and support, but we cannot push them into recovery. Self awareness is often something that is taken away or distorted by mental illness, so it is often a long and difficult road, for both the individual with mental illness and their family, just to get to the point where recovery begins.

Without NAMI and the Family-to-Family class, it was clear that many people in need would not even know where to start. There are a number of programs now that supply the atmosphere in which this self awareness is achieved: Clubhouses provide a place for people to simply get out and meet others, talk to peers who have been where they are, and, if they are ready, provide direction for next steps. Job skills training, peer-to-peer supports, housing assistance and job placement assistance are all available to those who are ready to move forward.

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

Watch This Anti-Stigma PSA

By request, we are re-posting an anti-stigma PSA (public service announcement/TV commercial). It's worth taking 60 seconds to watch! Click here.

For more information on the stigma of mental illness, visit the Fight Stigma page of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's website.

NAMI on FlickR

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania event photos can be viewed on FlickR, a photo sharing website.

Click here to view photos on FlickR from our last two NAMI Walks and our 2009 Annual Education Conference. You are able to download photos directly from the site.

Step #4 Of Leading A Balanced Life

According to NAMI's Family-to-Family Education Program, there are seven principles for a caregiver to lead a balanced life. The first, second and third principles were discussed in previous posts.

The fourth principle is to maintain social contacts.

Never underestimate the importance of maintaining regular contact with your circle of friends or social network. This can include friends, church contacts, acquaintances from clubs and former or current co-workers. It is important for the primary caregiver to maintain a social network beyond the family or caregiving circle.

These friends--who are not immersed in the family situation--lend support to the caregiving process. They spend time with the caregiver and offer objective advice or insight. They can help the caregiver to focus on interests outside of his/her role as caregiver. They provide comfort during difficult times. They can even run errands for the caregiver in a pinch.

In general, maintaining social contacts gives the caregiver a buffer from day to day challenges and stresses of caregiving. In some cases, friends can be used to air frustrations, concerns or fears. They can be there to vent anger or simply to help the caregiver to relax and have fun for awhile.

Sharing with friends enables the caregiver to come back to their loved ones in a way that helps them better to nurture and help the family member in need.

Information and support for families can be found at the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Family-to-Family Week 9

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

Throughout the Family-to-Family course, we've been learning about our loved one's mental illness, and how to help them through communication, understanding and advocating for them. All of these tools will serve everyone involved in our loved one's care; but, as family members who provide support in so many ways, we need to make sure that our feelings and needs are not being ignored or suppressed by our focus on our loved one's care. If we don't make room in our lives for the expression of our own feelings and we don't set boundaries, we can become burned out.

An analogy to the importance of caregivers and family members paying attention to their own needs was brought up in class and is one that travelers have often heard as part of the pre-flight safety instructions: "If you are traveling with a child, kindly secure your oxygen mask before securing theirs." The reason for this is that if you don't help yourself first, you won't be able to help the child.

Having a loved one with mental illness can be a burden, but often we take the stoic route and pretend as if our feelings and needs don't matter as much as our loved ones. They do. In class we discussed what some of the typical burdens are. We discussed our own feelings and the specific burdens we encounter as a result of a family member's mental illness. And, we learned ways to make these burdens lighter by taking positive actions to balance out the heavy responsibilities that we shoulder. Sometimes you need to give yourself permission to let go of the guilt, pay attention to your social life and your health, and do things that make you feel good. It seems simple, but the payoff is enormous.

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

Friends of the Riverfront Holiday Party

Our friends at Friends of the Riverfront are hosting their annual holiday party tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. in the South Side.

Friends of the Riverfront Holiday Party

33 Terminal Way

Pittsburgh (South Side), PA 15219

5 to 8 p.m.

Food and beverages provided

Featuring The Boilermakers Jazz Band

Friends of the Riverfront is a non-profit organization that protects and restores our rivers and riverfronts, including the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, where we hold our annual 5K NAMI Walk. The walk could not happen without the support of Friends of the Riverfront!

To find out more about the annual NAMI Walk, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Candlelight Memorial Service Tonight

SPRITES invites survivors of suicide to attend a candlelight memorial service tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 9, in memory of friends and relatives.

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

In Memory of Friends & Relatives

Wednesday, Dec. 9

7 p.m.

Riverview United Presbyterian Church

3505 Perrysville Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15214

Attendees are encouraged to bring a dozen cookies for the reception. Punch and coffee will be provided. For more information, call Carol at (412) 654-4784 or email spritesfoundation@yahoo.com.

Find information on suicide and other mental illnesses at the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

"Safety Nets: Mental Illness" Airs Tonight on WQED

Once again, WQED-TV takes a meaningful look at mental illness with an OnQ Special Series called Safety Nets: Mental Illness. The show airs tonight, Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m.

On tonight's show, host Michael Bartley takes a close look at local services for people with mental illness. A man from McKeesport who has bipolar disorder and has attempted suicide will discuss his life-saving help and ongoing assistance from Mon-Yough Community Services.

Following the program will be a discussion on the importance of mental health safety nets in the Pittsburgh region. Special guests are Robert Adamson and Harold Hartger of Mercy Behavioral Health.

For more information on mental illness, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Five Tips for Surviving the Holidays

The following article is taken from BP Magazine.

Five Tips for Surviving the Holidays

Finally! It's the holiday season! We get a break from work, visit family, watch football games, eat great food.

And the other time-honored tradition: we get to stress out. And with unemployment across the country rising, many people might truly have a blue, blue Christmas.

"When someone becomes stressed they're experiencing an age-old, very normal reaction to the perception of some sort of threat," says Dr. Jonathan Abramowitz, an expert in anxiety disorders and professor of psychiatry and psychology in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and College of Arts & Sciences.

"Your heart races, your chest gets tight, you start to sweat. There are catastrophic thoughts: Oh, no! What's going to happen? And then we act--it's the fight-or-flight response," Abramowitz says. "At its heart are normal and adaptive behaviors."

Stress, anxiety, depression and anger all are caused by certain patterns of thinking. "When we get angry, we're telling ourselves that things must or should go a certain way, or other people must or should behave certain ways."

With the economy, we might be thinking about things that dictate out emotions.

But, Abramowitz says, it's the way we think about things that dictate our emotions.

"If we're thinking, 'I have to buy gifts for everyone. We signed up to take this big vacation, we have to travel.' Those set us up to be let down."

So, what are we to do?

* First, identify what the trigger is -- a relative's comment or the thought of a departed loved one -- recognize how it makes you feel and slow down your thought process to keep your emotions from going 0 to 100 in 5 seconds flat.

* Put expectations into perspective -- lower them; the holidays do not have to be perfect.

* Think of yourself first; we cannot control what others do or say but we can change the way we think about things.

* Limit demands and ultimatums: replace "should," "must" and "have to" with "I wish," "maybe" and "my preference..."

*Remember the holidays are temporary; January is right around the corner.

"We don't have to like the holidays, and they might not be stress free, but going into them thinking, 'This is temporary, I can get through this,' instead of "Oh, God, this is going to be awful,' prepares you to get through them," Abramowitz says.

For information on mental illness visit NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

SPRITES Coffee Social This Friday

The SPRITES invite survivors of suicide to a Coffee Social on Friday, Dec. 4 at T.G.I. Fridays in Monroeville at 7 p.m.

This is a chance for survivors to gather and talk in a relaxed setting, without stigma or prejudice.

SPRITES welcomes your ideas on coping strategies, getting through the holidays and anything else you'd like to share with fellow survivors.

RSVP to Lori at lorielnyczky@yahoo.com.

SPRITES stands for Survivors Partnership for Research Information Truth and Education on Suicide.

For more information on suicide and other mental illnesses, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

With the seasonal changes this time of year, some people experience periods of depression and may suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.

This condition is characterized by recurrent episodes of depression--usually beginning in late fall or early winter--alternating with periods of normal or high mood the rest of the year.

Typical characteristics of Seasonal Affective Disorder include oversleeping, daytime fatigue, carbohydrate craving and weight gain, although a person does not necessarily need to show these symptoms.

Additionally, a person can experience the usual features of depression, especially decreased sexual interest, lethargy, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, lack of interest in normal activities and social withdrawal.

Light therapy is now considered first-line treatment intervention. If properly dosed, it can produce relief within days. Anti-depressants may also help and can be used in conjunction with light therapy.

Click here for more information on Seasonal Affective Disorder, including patterns and treatments. Today the Wall Street Journal published this article on seasonal depression.

For information on other mental illnesses, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

Step #3 Of Leading A Balanced Life

Self-care for the caregiver is essential. According to NAMI's Family-to-Family education program, there are seven principles for a caregiver to lead a balanced life. The first principle and second principle were discussed in previous posts.

The third principle is: Watch Your Stress Level.

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. We know that it can wreak havoc on our bodies and our lives.

A key component to managing stress is to learn your own personal warning signs that you are becoming stressed.

All of us handle stress differently. While one person's warning sign might be snapping at a family member or co-worker, another person's might be sleeplessness or a physical reaction like an aching neck.

It's important to identify your personal "red flags" so that you can address the stress before it reaches a point of overwhelm.

Once you've identified an early sign that you are stressed, it's time to take a step back and slow down. Don't underestimate the importance of acknowledging that you are stressed, taking deep breaths and taking a step back (in whatever way you can) from the situation.

From there, each of us must determine what helps during times of stress. There is no one answer for everyone. For some people, going for a walk or run helps tremendously. For others, baking, bathing, writing or listening to music might help. Some people want to be alone while others feel the need to vent to a friend or therapist.

Each of us is unique, and self-knowledge is critical when it comes to watching stress levels. Know your signs. Know when to take a step back. And know what things you can do that help relieve your stress.

Helping yourself is one of the best things you can do for your loved one.