Walk Kick-off Luncheon
August 15, 2012  11:30 AM 

There will be a free Walk Kick-Off Luncheon on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 11:30 AM at the Courtyard by Mariott Hamilton, 1 Riverfront Plaza, Hamilton OH 45011 for those interrsted in being Team Captains and Walk Sponsors for our 7th Annual Walks for the Mind of America event!

Information & materials will be distributed to help you organize and motivate a Walk team, learn about NAMI's online services, and explore sponsorship opportunities.  Please RSVP by Friday, August 10, 2012 to 860-8386 or info@nami-bc.org.   

Put On Your Walking Shoes!  

Mark your calendars! This year's walk is October 13th at 10:00 AM. Our NAMI Walk is the biggest community awareness event in Butler County. Not only does your support help us provide free educational programs to the community but your participation tells others in our community that mental health matters. Please make a commitment to ask everyone you know to either walk or sponsor a walker this October. Let's work together to make a statement that we believe mental illness deserves the same attention, compassion and respect as other forms of illness. Help us fight stigma with your participation and dollars.  

New Family to Family Classes Begin in September

If you missed signing up for our current Spring Family to Family classes, sign up now for classes beginning September 17th at The Vineyard Church in Springdale and September 18th at our Boymel Drive office. Registration, classes and materials are free. Family to Family is geared toward people who have loved ones ages 16 and over with a mental illness and runs one evening a week for 12 weeks. We are also creating a list of those who are interested in NAMI Basics (for family members of children ages 16 and under) which meets for one evening a week for just six weeks.

Call 860-8386 to for more info or to register for classes.

Upcoming Education Meeting Speakers:

July 19th:  Maxine Apke, art teacher and facilitator & Sarah Martin, nursing student at Miami University, will discuss the role of art in alleviating depression in one's daily life. She will also discuss the workshop she will be co-facilitating and will display her recent project of creating a paper quilt (the squares of which were created by family members to express their experiences of loving someone who is living with a mental illness) and her plans for displaying them.   

August 16th: Bill Nordyke, RN, is the RN Coordinator of Fort Hamilton Hospital's Outpatient Mental Health Program. Bill will detail the services provided by this program and assist family members in deciding if their loved ones may benefit. He will also discuss alleviating depression and anxiety in our own lives as well as how to best help our loved ones with mental illness.

September 20:   Speaker to be announced soon. 

October 18:   Robert Kramer, author of Taming the Black Dog of Depression: A guide for those who are suffering and their families (2012). Kramer will discuss how he tamed what Winston Churchill called his "Black Dog" of depression and his efforts to chip away at the stigma of mental illness.  

IT'S ALL GOOD
Seattle Conference Celebrates Recovery
by Kathleen Stevens, Associate Director

Summer usually grants us at least a week or two to catch our collective breath and reflect on our loved ones and their recovery journeys to date. The theme of this year's conference in Seattle, in fact, was recovery. A popular speaker at this year's conference was Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, author of My Stroke of Insight (2008). Taylor's book chronicles her eight-year journey of recovery following a stroke at the age of 37.  

   Taylor, who has a brother with schizophrenia, said the key lessons she'd like to share with loved ones of those recovering from psychosis are: Honor the healing power of sleep, treat me like I will recover completely, challenge my brain systems, love me for who I am, help me define my priorities for energy use, give my brain years to recover, and recognize that I am not stupid - I am wounded. Finally, come close: do not be afraid of me.

   Many researchers in Seattle, including Taylor, talked about studies and treatments that are now more recovery driven.  Currently, we are working toward moving our loved ones beyond what we previously thought possible. This is in sharp contrast to the not too distant past in which it was believed that once diagnosed with mental illness, including age-related dementia, we can never get back what we've lost in the process. Instead of the "It's all downhill from here" scenario of the past, we're now wrapping our collective hands around a glass that's not only half full but begging to be filled to the rim. We're learning that the brain can not only recover, it can continue to improve; we just need to believe, research our options, advocate and persevere. Read on for some more recovery highlights from the Seattle conference.

Post-Psychotic Adjustment to Recovery 

A presentation on post-psychotic adjustment to recovery talked about recent research which discovered a four-phase process (including 50 milestones) of measurable cognitive, emotional, interpersonal and physical milestones occurring over a two-year period which has become known as MAPP or the Milestones of Adjustment Post-psychosis Recovery Model. The presenters stressed the need to give people the time to heal, stating that we have not done a good job in helping people cope with the psychological and emotional consequences of psychosis. One presenter, a young man recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, feels that at least one family member should go through NAMI's Family to Family program and that those in recovery should be encouraged to join support groups such as NAMI Connections. He says that those in recover need life coaches, peers experienced with coping with mental illness, someone to help with paperwork and obtaining medications, a purpose in life, and a program to assist them in self-support. His message to friends and family is to stick with your loved ones (many friends abandoned him after his diagnosis), and recognize that the first two years after diagnosis are the most difficult.

Inside the Human Matrix:  Finding Solutions and Resilience in Difficult Times
Seattle Conference Presentation by Dr. Shawn Christopher Shae, MD, author of Happiness is...Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times 

Can we be happy even when we are suffering? In his book, Dr. Shea seeks a tougher happiness that is present and revitalizing even during times of pain. He proposes that opposites co-create each other. Happiness only has power by the movement between well-being and woe. We can't know happiness if there is no opposite to compare it. We cannot know courage if there is no fear, resilience if there are no challenges. If we can accept that bad has to occur by the very order of nature, we can learn to see the good in it. We learn new coping skills, compassion for others, resilience. We learn to find strength in our relationships, in ourselves and in our God. We learn to recognize and value the good moments and embrace the bad moments for the learning experience they are.

Dr. Shea believes that happiness is as much an attitude as a feeling and that it is lived in the moment and is fluid in nature. It exists in those moments when we trust that we can reasonably cope with our world. It happens when we can look not at the past or the future, but at the moment, and embrace the difference this moment will make in our lives and the lives of others.

Dr. Shea presents a matrix of human nature, made up of our spirituality, our environment, our relationships, our psychology and our biology. This matrix is interwoven; change one and they all change. The more we learn to strengthen and trust the components of this matrix, the more we will live in those moments of happiness.

The Hearing Voices Approach   

A new therapeutic approach to individuals who hear voices, known as The Hearing Voices Approach was presented by Ron Coleman, RMN, Dip Research Methodology, Port of Ness, UK. Coleman, who has schizophrenia, says he hears seven distinct voices. Coleman says that in the past it was believed that we shouldn't ask about the voices our loved ones hear; that loved ones were told that talking about it could make symptoms worse. The new recommendations include asking our loved ones about their voices (How long have you been hearing them? How many do you hear? Who or what are they? What do they talk about?). By normalizing them, even using humor at times, you encourage your loved one to express their feelings and feel more comfortable about seeking help. Coleman has also started support groups for individuals who hear voices. For more about Coleman and The Hearing Voices approach and workshops visit www.roncolemanvoices.co.uk or www.hearingvoicesusa.org.

CET (Cognitive Enhancement Therapy) 

CET continues to gain momentum for helping people with schizophrenia and related mental illnesses improve processing speed, attention, memory, problem solving, the ability to interact with others, finding employment and even the self-management of their mental and physical health. For more information, see the Center for Cognition and Recovery at (216) 504-6428 or online at www.cetcleveland.org.

International Bipolar Foundation 

International Bipolar Foundation offers a free monthly e-newsletter for those affected with bipolar disorder and also has referrals for doctors, therapists, schools, advocates and lawyers. For more information see InternationalBipolarFoundation.org. The National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality disorder (borderlinepersonalitydisorder.com) is now offering free call-in sessions on Sunday nights plus archives of some of their recent presentations. To streamline a five part video series on bipolar disorder (for a fee) see BPDvideo.com.­­­

Active Military and Veterans 

Active Military and Veterans had great presence at this year's conference. The number of suicides among our soldiers has risen by 80 percent since the start of the Iraq War. Depression and other forms of mental illness have paralleled this rise. For help, call the Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. For referrals see militarymentalhealth.org/resources/military_referrals.aspx. For general resources see mentalhealth.va.gov, militaryoonesource.mil, samhsa.gov/militaryfamilies or nami.org/ptsd.

Resiliency on Campus 

The Resiliency on Campus seminar discussed efforts to help students, parents, professors and school administrators to learn more about coping skills and stress management on campus. NAMI is joining such efforts with their NAMI on Campus program. NAMI Butler County is currently working on efforts to start a NAMI on Campus at Miami University. James Mitre, MN, RN of the Seattle Pacific University talked about his own son's battle with depression while at school and emphasized that it's important that students take advantage of campus counseling services to work through concerns. Recommended readings included Letting Go: A Parent's Guide to Today's College Experience by Karen Levin Coburn (2007) and 100 Things College Freshman ought to Know by William Disbro (2009)

Some of the top offerings from the Seattle conference (in the conference book store and recommended by speakers):

SCHIZOPHRENIA

Living with Voices by Marius Romme (2009)

When Quietness Came: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey with Schizophrenia by Erin Lynne Hawkes (2012)

Reis's Pieces: Love, Loss, and Schizophrenia by Karen Winters Schwartz (2012)

My Schizophrenic Life: The Road to Recovery from Mental Illness by Sandra Yuen MacKay (2010)

BIPOLAR DISORDER

The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know by David Jay Miklowitz (2010)

Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner

by Julie A. Fast (2012)

Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy by Kelly Koerner, PhD (2012)

OCD

Triggered: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Fletcher Wortmann (2012)

GENERAL

You Need Help! A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling by Mark Komrad, MD (Coming out August 2012)

Happiness Is: Unexpected Answers to Practical Questions in Curious Times by Shawn Shea (2004).

Better Than Normal: What makes you Different can make you Exceptional by Dale Archer, PhD, (2004).

Linking Nutrition to Mental Health by Ruth Leyse-Wallace PhD, RD (2008).

The Power of Validation by Karyn Hall, PhD (2012)

BIPOLAR DISORDER/ANXIETY MAGAZINES

BP magazine (877 ) 575-4673 or bphope.com and Esperanza magazine (Anxiety and Depression) at (877) 575-4673 or hopetocope.com. Both are great selections for learning about the latest in research and treatment.

Book Club Spring Readings Announced

Here are our summer titles.  For more information about our book club, visit our website at nami-bc.org.

Book selections for coming months:

July: The Art of Comforting:  What to Say and Do for People in Distress by Val Walker (2010). We have all found ourselves in those situations where we are not quite sure what to say. This book provides a guide for establishing a human connection amidst the most challenging and chaotic of situations. 

August: The Buddha and the Borderline:  A Memoir by Kiera Van Gelder (2010). This book details one young woman's recovery from borderline personality disorder through dialectical behavior therapy, the practice of Buddhism and online dating.      

September: Life Inside the "Thin" Cage:  A Personal Look into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter by Constance Rhodes (2003).  A look at sub-clinical eating disorders and how to achieve balance when it comes to healthy eating, body image and lifestyle management.

If you read the books, please take a moment to share your thoughts, comments and questions (at kstevens@nami-bc.org). We will post them (along with answers to any questions) on our web site.  

Advocacy Spotlight - Send Your Brain to Harvard  

It's been touted as a surefire way to get to Harvard! The Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center was at the Seattle conference looking for brains. If that concerns you, rest assured that they are happy to wait until you're done with it. One reason that surrounding mental illness is on the decline is the absence of brain tissue. Researchers are looking for brain tissue from sufferers of mental illness as well as "normal" brains so they may do studies which compare tissues. The removal of the brain does not interfere with having a public viewing for family and friends, your donation remains anonymous and your family will receive a pathology report. To register as a donor, or for more information, call 1-800-272-4622 or go to brainbank.mclean.org.