NAMI's 10th Annual Education Conference

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania is thrilled to announce the theme for its 10th Annual Regional Education Conference at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott.

The Power To Ignite Change: A Personal Call To Action

This year will mark our first-ever two-day conference on Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24. Attendees can join us for one or both days.

Day 1: Growing the Grassroots: The Crucial Need for Advocacy

Day 2: Confronting the Challenges in the Mental Health System

Keep an eye on our website and this blog for more information.

Vote For Suicide Prevention

The American Federation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has a chance to be awarded one million dollars in the "Chase Community Giving" program being conducted on Facebook.

This week only (through Friday, Jan. 22), Facebook users can vote for up to five non-profit organizations among 100 that were nominated in an earlier round. If AFSP receives the top award, it will expand a pilot depression awareness and suicide prevention program to college campuses nationwide.

You must be a Facebook user to participate.

-Click here to go to its website and follow instructions on how to vote.

-Tell as many family and friends as possible through "social networking" means suck as Facebook and Twitter or by simply forwarding this notice to them by e-mail

-Ask them to vote and also help spread the word to as many people as possible by Friday, Jan 22

-Suicide is the third leading cause of death among college age youth.

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

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

The offices of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania are closed on Monday, Jan. 18 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Step #6 Of Living A Balanced Life

According to NAMI's Family-to-Family program, there are seven principles for caregivers to live a balanced life. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth principles were highlighted in previous blog posts.

Principle #6 is : Continue pursuing your own interests.

Caring for a loved one with mental illness is an incredibly important role in the life of a family member. The caregiver is an integral part of their loved one's well being and recovery, and it is important to keep emotional reserves full to handle the inevitable challenges.

One key way to do this is to pursue your own interests. Often, caregivers feel guilty taking time for themselves to do something they enjoy. However, filling up one's own reserves by engaging in rewarding activities is a vital part of a well-balanced life.

What is it that you enjoy doing outside of home and work? What activity engages you? Is there something you've been meaning to learn about? Is there a hobby or activity you used to enjoy but stopped doing?

In pursuing something for oneself, a caregiver is taking essential steps in offering the loved one a well-rounded, whole person.

For information on mental illness and support for family members, visit the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website.

What is mental illness?

Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible.

Mental illnesses can affect a person of any age, race, religion or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.

In addition to medication, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

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

Step #5 Of Living A Balanced Life

According to NAMI's Family-to-Family program, there are seven principles for caregivers to live a balanced life. The first, second, third and fourth principles were highlighted in previous blog posts.

Principle #5 is: Seek out and join a support group.

Support groups are an important resource for people caring for a loved one with mental illness.

Support groups allow caregivers to come together, share ideas, coping tips, experiences and most importantly, to exchange emotional support. Most support groups are facilitated by a leader with personal experience. The primary goal of many support groups is that no one the group serves ever has to feel alone again.

Members report that a support group gives them faith and hope. It makes them laugh despite the trials of their situations. It helps them to come to terms with the illnesses of their loved ones. Together, the mutual support can be an integral part of a balanced life for a caregiver.

To find a support group, visit the Support Group page on NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's website.

Save the Date

NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania's 10th Annual Education Conference has been scheduled on Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24 at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott. Our first-ever two-day conference gives you the option to attend one or both daylong educational events.

More information will follow on the NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania website. To view photos from last year's conference, take a look at our FlickR photo site.

Family-to-Family Week 11/12

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

Part of the class was devoted to hearing from long time mental health advocates who have been active in organizations like NAMI for years. They told us about the struggles they have gone through and the persistence is takes to make change happen. Advocacy by family members is so important because we live with the challenges of mental illness every day, and, often, the mentally ill cannot speak for themselves.

Advocacy not only creates changes in the system, but it also helps heal the families of those with mental illness. Giving back keeps your focus on positive things and prevents you from becoming mired in your own problems.

As we sampled the goodies that each of us brought to this last class, we discussed what the Family-to-Family experience had meant to each of us. One of the most often mentioned gifts was that of friendship and support. Before, many of us had felt isolated and alone with our loved one's problems. Now we each knew a dozen or more people in our own community who were struggling with the same issues. And, given the statistic that, over a lifetime, one in four people will be affected by mental illness, we all know now that we are not alone; there are many others out there just like us. We also know, thanks to this class, that there is help for our loved ones and hope for the future.

Most of our last Family-to-Family class was a celebration--of making it through 11 Monday nights, of the discoveries we'd made about our loved ones and ourselves, and of the bonding that had taken place between all of us during class and in our lingering discussions after.

We also celebrated the hope we had found in the model of recovery, and the strength of those who came before us to create NAMI and the Family-to-Family program.

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

*The Family-to-Family course is normally 12 weeks, but the co-teachers combined weeks 11 and 12 into one class.

Link Between Teens, Sleep & Depression

As reported today by CBS News, a new study shows that teens who don't get enough sleep are more likely to suffer from depression and have suicidal thoughts.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that earlier bedtimes can help protect adolescents from such tendencies.

That goes against the common perception that teens need less sleep than people in other age groups. It's been estimated that teens need a little more than nine hours of sleep per night.

To view the two-minute clip that appeared this morning on The Early Show, click here.

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