What’s “new at NAMI NH” Newsletter
December 2006
News to distribute and share with your groups and classes
This newsletter is currently sent to leaders, teachers, NAMI NH staff and board members, so please make copies, or forward emails to add members to the distribution list.
Upcoming Events-
Legislative Luncheon- On February 13th from 12-1:00, NAMI NH will be hosting a “Free Lunch” and IOOV presentation for the entire legislature. This event provides NAMI NH with the opportunity to engage legislators in mental illness related issues and policies. The goal is to create a NH Mental Health Caucus. NH Representatives are most interested in what you, their constituents think. Knowing that attending this luncheon is important to you is key. Please ask all your group members to contact their local representatives and encourage them to attend.
Support Group Facilitator Training- Feb. and March 10th and 24th, 9:00-1:30 at the NAMI NH office, 15 green St., Concord, NH, Lunch will be provided. Please refer any interested group member to Annette for more information and registration. Training is open to all facilitators interested in a refresher course!
Strategic Planning- Thank you to all who have participated and continue to participate in this vitally important process that will determine the future goals and visions of NAMI NH.
Affiliate News-
Nashua Adult Group- November educational topic- “Dual diagnosis & Programs available at Westbridge Community Services”- Speakers- Melissa Edney and Kevin Keefe
Littleton Adult Group- November Educational topic- “Case Management & Treatment plans, what do they look like, what services are available?” Speaker- Liann Despins from White Mountain Mental Health.
Berlin Group- November Educational topic- “IEP’s and 504 plans”. Speakers-
Becky Hebert-Sweeney and Steve Gordon, SAU Coordinators.
Manchester Adult Group- November educational meeting topic “Supported Employment”. Speaker- Ed Bailey
Seacoast Adult Group- November Educational Topic- “Ask the Doctor”. Speaker- Dr. Jim Kates
Whats New?
Save the Date: Friday, December 15, 2006
Topic: An Open Discussion with Dr. Duckworth, NAMI’s Medical Director and a child and adolescent psychiatrist
Please join us for an open discussion with Dr. Ken Duckworth during our monthly children’s conference call. Dr. Duckworth will discuss issues of interest to participants and will respond to questions on child and adolescent mental health. This is your opportunity to get those burning questions and comments addressed!
All Friday children’s conference calls with Dr. Ken Duckworth take place on the third Friday of the month. The calls are toll free and are scheduled from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. E.T. To access the toll-free call, please dial 1-888-858-6021; access number 309918#. We hope that you will join us!
Support groups now have their own pages on the NAMI NH website. The NAMI NH office will post information, announcements, events or anything your group wants on your group’s very own page. But to make this work you need to forward your “news” to monica at mdenham@naminh.org or fax it to her attention at 228-8848 or give her a call 225-5359! We are setting up the links this week so let her know asap!!
Reminder-
This Affiliate Newsletter and Biannual meeting minutes can be found posted on the NAMI NH webpage at www.naminh.org, click on “News” on the black horizontal line and then click on Affiliate news on the left side.
The following letter to the editor was composed by a NAMI Affiliate leader and sent to his local paper. I thought it was a wonderful piece and decided to include it our December newsletter.
December 11, 2006
Letter to the Editor
In a few weeks, you can bet that either you will ask or answer the questions, “What did you receive for Christmas? Or what was your favorite gift?” In three out of four families, the answer will be a traditional one, such as; “clothes, the latest electronic gadget or a cell phone that can do more than your computer”.
However, in one out of four families in Medina county (over 11,000 families), the answers to the questions could be vastly different. Imagine if you will, answers such as; “we finally have a diagnosis, or our loved one is taking their medications.” You could also hear, between the tears, that “our loved one is still missing and we pray that they will be found alive.” There will also be families that will celebrate because their loved one, for the first time in years, spent Christmas with their family.
Those one out of four families all have one thing in common. They have a loved one who suffers from a severe brain disorder, more commonly called a mental illness. The mental illness could be bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, to name just a few. This is an illness that strikes about 1 in 5 adults.
These families celebrate their Christmas gift of life. That gift means their loved one was not counted as part of the “Silent Epidemic” during 2006. Each year over 30,000 men, women, and children in the United States fall to this “Silent Epidemic” – Suicide. In Ohio, each day 3 people commit suicide – over 1,000 each year. More than 90 percent of those lost souls have a diagnosable mental disorder.
The gifts of Christmas can come at any time of the year for these families. One of the gifts is that of hope. Hope that someday there will be a cure for the mental illness that has invaded the brain of their loved one. Hope that people will understand that what they see in their loved one, at times, are the symptoms of the mental illness and not the true being of the person. Hope that the people who state “it’s just bad behavior” would realize that it is not a diagnosis, but a refusal to accept that they are wrong. Hope that the leaders in our school systems will, finally, provide mental illness awareness training for all of their employees, so that there can be early detection of mental illness in our children. Hope that someday there will be a sheltered workshop for those with a mental illness so they can be brought back into the workforce with dignity. Hope that there will be a social-recreational drop-in center for all of our loved ones. Hope that the politicians in Columbus and Washington will stop the discrimination in health care services to our loved ones just because their illness is in their brain and not in another organ of their body.
To those special families, remember to never give up hope; never take no for an answer; and you are not alone in your life-long journey with your loved one. May the peace and hope of Christmas be with you and your loved one all year-long.
Richard Paterson
4674 Ruby Lane
Brunswick Hills, OH
Telephone: 330-225-8657
Happy Hanukkah
Merry Christmas
Wishing you all a joyful & peaceful Holiday of your choice!
Thanks,
Annette
Please contact me with questions, needs, and news of your groups and classes
at acarbonneau@naminh.org or 1-800-242-6264 ext 25.
NAMI NH 15 Green St., Concord, NH 03301
Fax- 228-8848
