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NAMI Lane County lane county …your local voice on mental illness Volume 33, No. 12 December 2010 Family-to-Family Class to Begin January 11 CONTENTS NAMI’s heralded Family To Family Family to Family was designed by 12-week education course is scheduled to an experienced family member and a Report from the run from Jan. 11 through March 22. The mental health professional and is taught Executive Director, course is taught every Tuesday night and by NAMI-trained teachers. The course p. 2 is conducted at the Lane County Behavior balances basic education about the impact Health Services Building beginning at 6 of mental illness on consumers and their Book Review, p. 3 p.m. families with self-care, emotional support, LCBHS is located at 2411 Martin and empowerment. Luther King Jr. Boulevard across from “The course covers many aspects of Advocacy: Changes to Social security, Autzen Stadium. mental illness, from the diseases them- p. 4 “Family to Family is a life-changing selves, the causes of mental illness, medi- experience for many attendees of the cation review, problem solving and com- Coping with course,” said Sally Diehl, NAMI Lane munications skills,” continued Sally Diehl. Holiday Stress, p 5 County’s education chair. “The course is “Many of our graduates tell us that designed for the families of persons who Family to Family is truly a miracle course have been diagnosed with a mental ill- that has helped them to deal with their NAMI News, p. 6 ness as well as those family members that loved one’s disability.” exhibit behavior that strongly suggest such The course, like all NAMI Lane Coun- Calendar, p. 7 a diagnosis.” ty services, is free. Call the office at 541- 343-7688 to reserve your seat. CONTACT US WHAT IS NAMI’S FAMILY-TO-FAMILY PROGRAM? NAMI Lane County The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program is a free, 12-week course for family caregivers of individuals 2411 Martin Luther with severe mental illnesses. King Jr. Blvd • The course is taught by trained family members Eugene, OR 97401 • All instruction and course materials are free to class participants • Over 115,000 family members have graduated from this national program Voice WHAT DOES THE COURSE INCLUDE? 541-343-7688 • Current information about schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, obsessive- compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and co-occurring brain disorders and addictive disorders Email • Up-to-date information about medications, side effects, and strategies for medication adherence ª Current research related to the biology of brain disorders and evidence-based, treatments to promote recovery [email protected] • Learning in special workshops for problem solving, listening, and communication techniques Internet • Focusing on care for the caregiver: coping with worry, stress, and emotional overload • Guidance on locating appropriate supports and services within the community www.namilane.org Source: http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Family-to-Family Executive rom the NAMI Lane County staff and volunteers, HAPPY FHOLIDAYS! We wish you a joyous season filled with love Director’s and devotion to mental health education and advocacy. Report As the year winds down, it will still be a busy month for NAMI. We have the Annual Holiday Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and our Holiday Gift Wrapping party on Friday, Dec. 3. Plus, we have sent notices encouraging donations to members and friends to help NAMI continue to offer its education, sup- port, information and advocacy programs that help those with a mental illness and their families. I know that the economic times are difficult, but just imagine how difficult it is for families and consumers who need our help even more. Please open your wallets as well as your hearts. We can’t do what we do without your financial and voluntary support. For the staff and board of directors, it’s budget time again and our budget will be established for the new year by the end of this year. We added several programs this past year which appear to be growing. Our support group for families facilitated by Kathy Black and our Friendship Coffee Group led by Sue Sammis are going strong in Cottage Grove and we just completed our first Family To Fam- ily course there with expectations to conduct another one next year. We also have five trained facilitators now for a new program called NAMI Connection. NAMI Connection is a weekly recov- ery support group for people living with mental illness in which people learn from each others’ experiences, share coping strate- gies, and offer each other encouragement and understanding. We are in the process of establishing meeting locations, dates and times. We expect to have separate support groups for both THANK YOU adults and youth in their late teens and twenties. Our NAMI Connection facilitators are: Tom Wilson, Joyce NAMI LANE COUNTY Findley, Emilie Van Wormer, Brandon Chambers, and Chrissie DONORS Piersol. Mardi Abbott A quote that inspires Terry… Janet Adams Terry and Sandra Arnold “WE MUST DELIGHT IN EACH OTHER, Bonnie Olin and Mike Quigley MAKE OTHERS’ CONDITIONS OUR OWN, Sheila and Kurt Sundahl REJOICE TOGETHER, MOURN TOGETHER, JoAnn Zinniker LABOR AND SUFFER TOGETHER, ALWAYS This month’s newsletter is HAVE BEFORE OUR EYES OUR COMMUNITY AS sponsored graciously MEMBERS OF THE SAME BODY.” by Sue Archbald. …James Winthrop, First Governor of Massachusetts, 1588-1649 2 I certainly have heard about PTSD, post traumatic stress ook disorder, a lot more in the media over the last five years. Review… I do not recall hearing about this disorder much before, even B though it has been a condition throughout our existence. Lately, PTSD has gained a prominence in the media while referring to The Post-Traumatic some soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The initial medical definition for PTSD was made in 1980. Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A more complete diagnosis and description for PTSD was made A Guide to Healing, Recovery in the year 2000. Categories for traumas resulting in PTSD were and Growth designated as acts of nature, natural disasters, man-made, delib- erate and malicious actions by Glenn R. Schiraldi, Ph.D. As with some other books that I have reviewed, this is more of a reference or guidebook than a book one would read cover to cover. The author, Glenn R. Schiraldi, PhD., describes this as a source book which acts as a guide to healing, recovery and growth for those diagnosed with or suspected of having PTSD. Mental illness is typically a biological disorder that one is born with and continues throughout life. An exception might be Tourettes Syndrome. People with this disorder may actually outgrow much of this problem with time. PTSD is unique in that it is a mental illness which can de- velop anytime in life. In reading the chapter “Making Sense of the Bewildering Symptoms”, a different development for PTSD problems is explained. This disorder, most likely brought on by trauma and stress can develop over time. There are actual changes in the brain that may result from the traumas. The body’s response to stress can cause stress hormones and other chemicals in the brain to alter neurotransmitters, which carry information between nerves. I know that some mental illnesses can seem to remain dor- mant until a stressful event or trauma occurs. Severe symptoms and suffering may return. With PTSD some people are aware of the problems right away after severe stresses while others may be affected years later. The chapter called “Healing, Recovery and Growth” sets the theme for the book. There are many positive approaches to deal- ing with this long-term problem. “Treatment Strategies” covers more than half of this sourcebook. There are medications tradi- tionally used to treat depression which can be helpful in reducing the common anxiety symptoms. Support groups and counseling can help limit the severity of the illness. This can also allow people to not re-experience the initial trauma so often. A person who gets diagnosed and treated early on will have a better opportunity for recovery. The person who develops PTSD earlier after a trauma will usually have better recovery possibilities. Social Security Disability Decisions Could Change by Terry Arnold A The Social Security Administration says they are looking to change the way deci- sions are made for awarding disability benefits based on a mental impairment. These d changes will threaten the ability of people with serious mental illnesses to obtain ben- efits. v Changes include “Medical Listings” – the standards that SSA uses to determine o eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. While the proposed new Listings include some very good features according to NAMI National, these are under- c mined by a provision that could limit the number of people with mental illnesses who can qualify to only one or two percent of the nation’s population. This is far below even a the most conservative estimate of the number whose mental health disability makes c them unable to work and who therefore need this monthly income. The key irritant in the proposed change is a reference to standardized test results y and the scores a person must have on those tests in order to meet the new standard. The definitions of the minimum scores are arbitrary and exclusionary. It is NAMI’s posi- tion that there are no suitable tests that validly measure ability to work, nor is there any research showing a link between the tests of mental functioning that do exist and the ability to work that needs to be measured for SSA processing. If a test is used, under the proposed rule an individuals’ score must be two standard deviations below the mean for the level of functioning to be considered “marked,” and it must be three standard deviations below the mean for the level of functioning to be considered “extreme.” So, in addition to encouraging the use of tests that cannot measure what needs to be measured, SSA has created a stringent - and flawed - standard in terms of the score required to qualify.
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