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HomeNewsArchivesMental Health Organization Seeks Volunteers on St. John

Mental Health Organization Seeks Volunteers on St. John

Kathleen Campbell.The National Alliance on Mental Illness needs people whose family members have mental health issues to get involved with the organization’s Family-to-Family program.

Kathleen Campbell, a Pennsylvania resident who has a house at St. John’s Peter Bay, said those people can become teachers to hold classes for other people whose family members have mental health problems.

“We need three or four per island,” she said.

While people on St. Thomas and St. Croix have signed up for the November training classes, no one’s come forward on St. John, Campbell said.

She’s trying to reach people whose family members have bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and a dual diagnosis of mental illness coupled with addictive disorder.

Campbell, who is president of the Bucks County, Pa., NAMI chapter, said while three or four teachers per island may seem like a lot, some people find that teaching others about mental illness resources is too emotionally taxing and don’t continue.

NAMI provides all the materials for the course, which covers such topics as dealing with people who won’t take their medication and how to get someone to seek treatment.

However, Campbell said the person taking the course is the expert because they’ve already dealt with the issue of mental illness in their family.

Campbell had some statistics on the prevalence of mental health. She said that about 6 percent, or 1 in 17, Americans suffer from serious mental illness.

Information supplied by Campbell shows that 10 percent of children and adolescents in the United States have emotional and mental disorders that cause significant functional impairment in their day-to-day lives at home, in school and with peers.

Additionally, the NAMI website indicates that four of the 10 leading causes of disability in the United States and other developed countries are mental disorders. By 2020, major “depressive” illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children.

According to the NAMI website, mental illness is serious medical illness that can’t be overcome by willpower. It’s not related to a person’s character or intelligence. That said, mental illness can be treated. Between 70 and 90 percent of people have their symptoms significantly reduced and their quality of life improved through drugs and psychological treatment.

Early identification and treatment is important.

Those who want to sign up for the class can call Campbell at 215-794-5856 or snd her e-mail at campbellkatm@gmail.com.

Visit http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Family-to-Family for more information on the Family-to-Family program.

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