As I have blogged during this #write31days, the reality of how many individuals and their family/friends have been affected by mental illness has been confirmed. In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2012, an estimated 43.7 million American adults were affected by a mental health illness. And there are more cases reported daily. So again my plea is for us to continue to educate about mental health issues.
I am not a health care professional but I appreciate and am thankful for many organizations and people who are helping to educate about mental illnesses. Today I thought I would share a couple of organizations that are doing just that. Actress Glenn Close and her sister (who lives with a mental illness) started the organization Bring Change 2 Mind. Their mission is “to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness through widely distributed Public Education Materials based on the latest scientific insights and measured for effectiveness. To act as a portal to a broad coalition of organizations that provide service, screening, information, support and treatment of mental illness.” You can find more information here BringChange2Mind.
I also appreciate all that the National Alliance on Mental Illness does to educate about mental health issues. NAMI works to offer hope and healing because those living with mental illnesses need a community that supports them, their families and their recovery. NAMI works every day to save every life. You can find more information here National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Earlier I also wrote a post about Media and Mental Illness that talked about the book and movie Silver Linings Playbook. If you haven’t already checked out the book or movie, I would definitely recommend that you do. I also came across this book Blessed Are the Crazy by Sara Griffith Lund. I have not read this book myself but I hope to check it out soon. I was incredibly surprised by the number of books dealing with mental illnesses when I typed “mental illness” into the search engine of GoodReads.
Are there any books, movies, resources that you would recommend for those who daily live with mental illness and their family/friends?
Thank you for sharing this, and for the resources you included in your blog. Just a quick thought on my own experience – seeing the person within the illness -the humanity, vulnerability, intelligence, wonder, beauty, is so important and takes work, hard, hard work sometimes, but when we can, it brings a greater freedom and grace in the relationship.
The one that saved my sanity was How To Survive When They're Depresses. Its for the loved ones of those depressed. She has a good book also for the depressed, but the title eludes me.
What an important topic. I really don't know much about the subject at all, but those sound like great resources.
This is a lovely post! Thank you for sharing. I have not personally dealt with mental illness, but I do live with another form of invisible illness, and the difficulties that come with it are very real to me.
Bravo! Thank you for the resources. The worst thing ever with mental illnesses (particularly clinical depression and eating disorders) is the insurance companies. They pretty much want you half dead before they will pony up and pay out for some help. Meanwhile, the family and patient suffer greatly because they KNOW the patient needs help but can't afford private care. Sigh.
These are great resources – thanks for sharing.
I'm definitely going to check out the Silver Linings book. And I love that you post the link to your 31 days landing page.
Such an important topic. This conversation needs to take place so that others doing life with someone suffering from a mental illness. It's touched my own life. Thank you for the resources and for taking on this subject!
Though I don't have a resource to share, I will applaud the efforts made to remove stigma. I have a child with a mental and neurological Dx and our parenting has looked different as a result. Folks don't understand it and therefore attribute negative thoughts to us and our child. Glad you're writing!