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Nonprofit to hold mental health info meeting

The Herald Journal - 1/8/2017

About a year ago, Providence residents and mental health advocates Julie and Greg Andrew found themselves in a position more common than they originally thought.

A close family member who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder a couple of years previous experienced a psychotic episode around Christmastime in 2015. Suddenly, the Andrews had many questions but weren’t sure about any answers.

“We were pretty much in a tailspin there for a little bit, just not knowing anything,” Julie said. “It took us to a whole different level of asking ‘What can we do? How can we get help? What kinds of services are available?’”

It was around that time the Andrews enrolled in an education course organized by the Cache County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grassroots mental health organization offering education and support to individuals and families affected by mental illness. Now members of the Cache chapter’s board of directors, the couple is hoping to spread the word of NAMI’s resources with an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Logan Library.

Wednesday’s meeting will detail the classes and groups NAMI has available locally through their office at Bear River Mental Health, including offering the opportunity to register for upcoming classes beginning this month.

“From our perspective, it’s a remarkable program that made all the difference for us,” Greg said. “Having resources available that are willing to talk about this is invaluable.”

NAMI provides a number of classes, support groups and resources for individuals suffering from mental illnesses as well their families. Classes are focused on peer-to-peer and family-to-family approaches, offering those with mental illness better understanding of their conditions and giving their families information about how they can best support their loved one. Each class is free and confidential.

“The classes are very comprehensive,” Greg said. “There’s an emphasis on help, hope and healing. Having someone there able to talk about their own experiences and understand means everything.”

Julie said there is a need in Cache Valley for increased awareness of mental health support. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately one in five adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness in a year, and 10 million adults in the U.S. experience serious mental illness each year that substantially interferes with or limits at least one major life activity.

“We learned that knowledge is power,” Julie said of her own experience in a NAMI family-to-family course. “After that 12 weeks, we learned that it’s a misnomer to call it a mental illness — it’s a brain disorder. But it’s not something many people are comfortable talking about. If someone has cancer, you would talk to them about cancer, but when someone says they have a mental illness, people change the subject because they have no idea what to say.”

Julie said the Cache chapter is looking to increase community outreach by holding additional info meetings throughout the year and working toward re-establishing a NAMI chapter on Utah State University’s campus.

“NAMI has been doing three or four sessions every year, but we want to have a more robust program, and I think we can make it happen,” Julie said. “People don’t know about the options unless you tell them. It’s good to have a forum to be able to discuss these kinds of things with people who can understand and empathize.”

For more info, visit www.namicachevalley.org.