Course for families of mentally ill

BANGOR – Over the past dozen years, some 200 area families have taken a distinctive 12-week education course designed specifically for those who are coping with a major mental illness in their family.

The course is so popular that Bangor volunteers for the National Alliance for Mental Illness now offer it twice a year, with the next 12-week session to be held 6:15-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning March 26, in the Osprey Room at Acadia Hospital.

NAMI-trained volunteers teach this family education course in a nurturing and safe environment. Every class discussion is confidential.

Those who wish to participate should sign up with Nancy at 223-5686 or Priscilla at 942-3848.

It is the first and only extensive course taught just for families, and was written by Joyce Brolyn, a Vermont psychologist, in 1992.

At the end of each class, people have at least 10 pages of free text material to take home with them. In the end, they have a fact-filled textbook to refer to and pass on to other family members.

Each week the course covers new topics such as all the major illnesses, which medications and side effects are all about, new brain research, self care, what to do in a crisis, advocacy issues, problem solving, and how to communicate when someone is delusional.

Speakers are also scheduled to talk with the class.

With mental health cuts coming in June, it will be more imperative than ever for families to get a solid mental health education so that they can advocate for their ill loved ones, organizers said.

NAMI volunteers teach the course throughout the state.

Most important, organizers said, is that the course changes the lives of the families who participate.

They learn they are not alone in dealing with these tragic illnesses. Many families avoid talking about their experiences with mental illnesses because of the shame, stigma and lack of understanding they get from family and friends and neighbors.

“So when they come to our class, they talk for the first time about the traumatic events they have gone through,” said Nancy Grimes, president of the NAMI affiliate of Bangor. “Through sharing and opening up to people they trust, a great burden is lifted from them and they are able to leave our classes feeling hopeful, empowered and ready to continue their care giving.”

For information, call 223-5686.