Help with mental illness

Do you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? More importantly, do you know about NAMI – the National Alliance on Mental Illness? NAMI provides support and education for those with mental illness and their families as well as helpful information for our entire community. All programs are free.

Support groups for individuals experiencing mental illness, regardless of diagnosis, meet weekly throughout the year. Participants learn from the experiences of others and share coping strategies while offering encouragement and understanding to one another.

During the drop-in support groups for family members and friends, individuals find an environment of sincere, uncritical acceptance. Those who wish can share concerns and all can get ideas to help our loved ones as well as suggestions for taking care of ourselves as we experience stress, sadness and frustrations while we urgently search for solutions.

In addition to support groups, which meet throughout the year, NAMI offers peer-to-peer classes for those with mental illness and family-to-family classes for families. Through education and encouragement from other classmates, participants learn information and skills to meet the challenges mental illness creates.

Other NAMI programs are listed at www.nami.org.

“Find help. Find hope.” through NAMI Spokane, www.NAMISpokane.org or call 509.838.5515.

Gretchen McDevitt

Spokane