NAMI COBB

NAMI Cobb

2016 Leadership Team

President -- Mary Dean Evans

harvey669@bellsouth.net

1st Vice-President / Communications

Greg Ausham

gregausham@yahoo.com

2nd Vice-President / Outreach

Linda Akanbi akanbil@comcast.net

Secretary - Nancy Spetnagel

nspetnagel@gmail.com

Treasurer and Parliamentarian–

Paul Wiser wim1paul@comcast.net

Membership Chair—Robert Gray

rjgray49@gmail.com

Advocacy Chair—Sylvia Oliphant

Sao66@yahoo.com

CIT/Newsletter Editor – John Avery

javeryjr56@gmail.com

Website Management Chair: Tim Link

link.tim@comcast.net

Fundraising Chair—Reina Panataleon

Reina.pantaleaon@gmail.com

Past President—Neill Blake

nhblake@earthlink.net

Website: www.namicobb.org

Email: NAMICobb1@gmail.com

Mailing address:

NAMI-Cobb

P.O. Box 999

Kennesaw, GA 30156

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 Monthly Meeting Announcement/Info

2 Education Speaker

3 NAMIWalks Info

4 Three State Awards to NAMI Cobb and Members

5 NAMI Cobb CIT / BiPolar Babes Go Fund Me Request

6 Popular Drugs Linked To Dementia Even At Low Dosage

7 North Carolina Police Officer Helps Possibly Suicidal Teen

8 NAMI Cobb teams up with Sonny’s BBQ

9 Unwell and unashamed: The stigma of mental illness

13 Meeting and Membership Information

Newsletter Date Volume 1 Issue 1 JUNE 2016 FRESH START

Education Meeting / Speaker’s Bureau

June 16, 2016

Janice Shomo, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Addiction Specialist and owner of Transition Rehab and Stacy Dunning, Certified Seeking Safety facilitator, and house manager at Transition Rehab will speak at our June 16 education meeting on this dual-diagnosis treatment.

Transition Rehab works with individuals whose behaviors effect the daily activities of life of the entire family system, and can be so severe, it becomes increasingly necessary to seek out an all-encompassing agency as Transition Rehab to meet your needs to provides individualized and clinical continuum of care. As each person in that system independently and safely learns to reintegrate back into the community and into their functional daily life, simultaneously, you and the family will develop with one another greater clarity and focus on building a relationship based on mutually acceptable goal

Thursday, June 16, 2016

7-9 p.m. Turner Chapel Room 187

492 N. Marietta Pkwy, Marietta 30060

Page 2 Fresh Start

Education Series Presents:

Do you Deal with a Dual Diagnosis?

Learn about “Seeking Safety” an evidence based integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment.

Janice Shomo, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Addiction Specialist and owner of Transition Rehab and Stacy Dunning, Certified Seeking Safety facilitator, and house manager at Transition Rehab will speak at our June 16 education meeting on this dual-diagnosis treatment. Janice Shomo, founder and owner of Shomatrix Solutions Group, Inc., DBA Transition Rehab, is a Licensed and insured Social Worker, a Certified Addiction Specialist and Notary. She has been actively working the fields of behavioral/mental health, addictions, criminal justice and communicable diseases for twenty years. Stacy Dunning is a master’s level social worker and recreation therapist. She is a certified Seeking Safety facilitator. Seeking Safety is the evidence based program that Transition Rehab is offering to families and clients.

Transition Rehab provides intensive therapeutic and sustainable interventions for men, woman and families who require mental health treatment, substance abuse evaluations, addiction treatment, domestic violence intervention training and prevention treatment and domestic abuse treatment, Transition Rehab services adults who show difficulty making changes and regulating their transition of change that causes emotional dysfunction. Transition Rehab, specializes in providing court ordered Substance Abuse Evaluations, Respite Care Programming for the mentally ill and dual diagnosed adults, and also offers an intensive wraparound housing support program for woman looking for a new life purpose.

This event is a FREE community service; all are welcome!

Thursday, June 16, 2016 7-9 p.m.

Turner Chapel Room 187 492 N. Marietta Pkwy, Marietta 30060

Fresh Start Page 3

Every journey begins with that first step! As NAMIWalks celebrates our 13th Anniversary in 2016, we are

proud to be the largest and most successful mental health awareness and fundraising event in America! Through

NAMIWalks public, active display of support for people affected by mental illness, we are changing how

Americans view persons with a mental illness. This is leading to ensuring that help and hope are available for

those in need. Please join us as we improve lives and our community’s one step at a time be sure to join us on

Facebook to connect with others across the country.

Join NAMI COBB STIGMA BUSTERS reach our $10,000.00 annual goal for the upcoming NAMI WALK 2016

http://www.namiwalks.org/team/STIGMABUSTERSGA

Signups are being taken now on the NAMI Cobb website www.naicob.org

Please mail Matching Gifts and Offline Donations to:

NAMI Georgia for NAMI COBB STIGMA BUSTERS

3180 Presidential Drive, Ste. A

Atlanta, Georgia 30340

Register ONLINE: https://securewalks.nami.org/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?TeamID=620471#&panel1-1

'LIKE' NAMI COBB GEORGIA on Facebook for updates.

Page 4 Fresh Start

Three State Awards to NAMI Cobb and Members

NAMI Cobb and members were honored with three awards at the 2016 NAMI Georgia Annual Conference in April.

Mrs. Neill Blake of NAMI Cobb received the NAMI Georgia Volunteer of the Year Award. This award recognizes the

individual who gives of their time and talent to NAMI Georgia selflessly to advance the organization’s mission to

promote recovery and optimize the quality of life for Georgians with mental illness and their families through support,

education, and advocacy, and research.

Mr. Paul Miner of NAMI Cobb was named the NAMI Georgia Peer-to-Peer Mentor of the Year. This award recognizes

the individual who goes above and beyond to facilitate Peer-to-Peer mentor classes while maintaining fidelity to the

model.

Finally, NAMI Cobb was honored as the NAMI Georgia Affiliate of the Year for Advocacy. Our advocacy efforts have

been spearheaded by our Advocacy Chair, Ms. Sylvia Oliphant.

Many thanks to the above individuals — and unnamed others — who have contributed to our efforts to educate, eliminate

stigma, and better address issues surrounding mental illness.

NAMI Cobb Activities

NAMI Connections Weekly Support Group

Our NAMI Connections Support Group for persons with a mental health diagnosis continues to meet every Monday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 231 at First Presbyterian Church located at 189 Church Street in Marietta. We have a good core group of people who are committed to living in wellness - please come join this drop-in group any Monday or every Monday! Contact Ashley Burton at 404-936-3887 for more information.

Family Care & Share Weekly Support Group

Our Family Care and Share Support Group is a drop-in group for family members and caregivers for someone with a mental health diagnosis. The group meets every Monday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Room 232 at First Presbyterian Church, 189 Church St in Marietta. If your family member is in crisis, come any or every Monday to receive support from others. And if your family member is doing well, please come to give your support and share your experiences with others! Contact Greg Ausham at 330-801-0328, Susie Allen at 770-565-4335 or Sylvia Oliphant 678-471-5907 for more information.

Fresh Start Page 5

NAMI CIT June 6-10, 2016

Cobb County S.O hosted a 40 hour CIT class during the week of June 6-10, 2016 at the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy. NAMI Cobb provides logistical support in the form of water, snacks, lunches and various homemade items. Seventeen attendees representing Cobb 911 (Dispatchers), Cobb County Sheriff Office, Riverdale Police Dept., Kennesaw Police Department, Paulding County Sheriff Office and Powder Springs police Department attended the training.

Dear NAMI folks, My name is Sue Ryerson. The NAMI affiliates in metro Atlanta,(Northside, North Cobb, Atlanta) are familiar with my work, but for everyone else, let me introduce myself. About 2 years ago, I went to the NAMI Atlanta office with an idea I had. I wanted to make a documentary about the disorder I have; bipolar disorder.Then president Jean liked the and helped tremendously all throughout production with her unswerving support. I named the film “I’m not Crazy” starring The Bipolar Babes. Here is the trailer; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW0kvM4RPpU Just 2 months after it’s release, we were invited to the NAMI convention in Washington D.C. We bipolar babes were so excited. The NAMI affiliates in metro Atlanta were all a great help in getting us to the convention. (We’re bipolar and poor. You know how that goes) When we did our presentation at the convention, it was standing room only! What an incredible experience! From doing presentations and speaking to various groups, I now have another project in the works. This time it’s for young people. It focuses on kids in high school and college and how vital it is to tell someone when they feel ‘strange’ or ‘funny’ or ‘down’. They need to understand that communication has to happen before they can be treated and feel well again. Holding it in and covering it up is the worst thing they can do. I know because that’s what I did and it took me a long time to get healthy again. That’s why I’m directing a new film called “Let’s talk about it”. I’ve started a ‘gofundme’ campaign to finance this. Here it is; https://www.gofundme.com/2eu5xtgc . I’m asking all of you to contribute whatever is comfortable for your particular affiliate. I know a lot of the budgets are tight. But everything helps. If you have any questions or want more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at this email address or call me at 404-643-9600. Sincerely yours, Sue Ryerson

Page 6 Fresh Start

Popular Drugs Linked To Dementia Even At Low Dosage Mar 4, 2016

by Michael T. Murray

A new study out of the University of Washington provides the strong evidence that certain popular drugs may increase the risk for

dementia in older adults. The drugs share some common mechanisms within key areas of the brain, but are used primarily as ingredients

in over-the-counter sleep, cough and cold, and allergy medicines as well as in the treatment of...

A new study out of the University of Washington provides the strong evidence that certain popular drugs may increase the risk for

dementia in older adults. The drugs share some common mechanisms within key areas of the brain, but are used primarily as

ingredients in over-the-counter sleep, cough and cold, and allergy medicines as well as in the treatment of an overactive bladder

and depression.

Drugs and Dementia

The most commonly used drug linked to dementia was diphenhydramine, which is used in many popular products such as Benadryl,

Nytol Sominex, Theraflu, Triaminic Allergy, plus many others. Also implicated where drugs containing chlorpheniramine (Aller-

Chlor); oxybutynin (Ditropan) and tolterodine (Detrol) for overactive bladder; and the tricyclicantidepressants, such as doxepin or

amitriptyline.

Background Data

Acetylcholine is a critical brain chemical involved in the transmission of the nerve impulse and is especially important for proper

memory and cognitive function. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is associated with a severe reduction in acetylcholine levels due to

reduced activity of the enzyme that manufactures acetylcholine (choline acetyltransferase).

Given the link between low acetylcholine levels and poor brain function, including dementia, previous studies have linked drugs to

reduced acetylcholine activity as well as mild cognitive impairment. These drugs include the ones mentioned in the introduction

above. While discontinuation of the drugs is thought to reverse the mental deficit, there is evidence that anticholinergic drugs may

produce permanent changes leading to irreversible dementia. These drugs are known to cause short-term drowsiness or confusion,

which is included in the prescribing information, but the long-term effects these drugs have on mental function are generally not

known by physicians or the people taking them.

Other drugs, like sedative hypnotic drugs (sleeping pills) and antihistamines have also been linked to an increased risk for dementia.

All of these types of drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, are used at an alarming rate by the elderly population putting them

at significant risk for dementia.

New Data

To evaluate whether cumulative anticholinergic use is associated with a higher risk for incident dementia, researchers examined

medical records from 3,434 participants 65 years or older with no dementia at study entry. Initial recruitment occurred from 1994

through 1996 and from 2000 through 2003 and data through September 30, 2012 were also included in these analyses

Exposure to anticholinergic was determined from computerized pharmacy records. Cumulative exposure was updated as participants

were followed up over a 10-year period. About 20% of the population was found to be using anticholinergic drugs.

During the evaluation period, 797 participants (23.2%) developed dementia with 637 of these (80%) developing Alzheimer disease. A

10-year cumulative dose-response relationship was observed for dementia and Alzheimer disease. In other words, the higher the

cumulative anticholinergic use, the greater the increased risk for dementia. The highest risk threshold was taking the minimum daily

effective dose of one the anticholinergic agents every day for 3 years.

Based upon these results, the authors of the study propose efforts to increase awareness among health care professionals and older

adults about the risk of the use of these drugs over time. Even at low dosage or recommended levels chronic use of these drugs should

be avoided.

Bottom Line

The results from this study highlight the importance of avoiding long-term use of these sorts of drugs, including Benadryl and over-

the-counter sleeping pills. What this research further establishes is that the human brain can be adversely affected by minor

pharmacological agents highlighting the importance of using natural approaches that not only address the key issue

(e.g., insomnia, allergies, etc.), but also have a positive effect on brain function. For example, the natural compound enzymatically

modified isoquercitrin (EMIQ) has demonstrated significant anti-allergy effects and also has been shown to block the formation of

beta-amyloid – a protein that is linked to causing the brain damage in Alzheimer’s disease.

To know more about Michael Murray- visit www.drmurray.com http://www.curejoy.com/content/popular-drugs-linked-dementia-even-low-dosage/

Fresh Start Page 7

North Carolina Police Officer Helps Possibly Suicidal Teen With Autism, Viral Photo Shows POSTED 1:36 PM, MAY 14, 2016, BY TRACY BLOOM

A photo of a North Carolina police officer helping a possibly suicidal high school student went viral after being posted on Facebook Friday. Officer Tim Purdy was sent to assist the teen, who left his high school campus and “may have been suicidal,” a post on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Facebook page said. The teen had a history of violent behavior because of a neuro-developmental disorder, according to the post. In an attempt to connect with and assist the youngster, Purdy sat down next to the boy and began talking with him. At one point, the officer even even got the teen laughing. The result was that Purdy was able to gain the boy’s trust and establish a relationship that allowed police to get him the “help that he so desperately needed,” the post stated. “There’s more to policing than making arrests and enforcing the law. Sometimes taking those extra little steps makes the biggest difference in someone’s life,” the department said. By early Saturday afternoon, the post had been liked more than 375,000 times and shared over 125,000 tim

In Memoriam – CIT Officer Jeff Olson NAMI Georgia mourns the loss of Lieutenant Jeff Olson, a Georgia CIT officer and leader. Lt. Olson served as the Hostage Negotiation Team commander for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. He made a real difference in the lives of many people, and we will miss him greatly. We give thanks for the years of devoted service he offered to the mental health community. Lieutenant Olson was on the front line of the battle to end the criminalization of mental illness, promoting safety for officers and people living with mental illnesses, and preventing inappropriate incarcerations of people who need treatment, not jail.

Page 8 Fresh Start

NAMI Cobb teams up with Sonny’s BBQ

NAMI Cobb teamed up with Sonny’s BBQ in Marietta, GA, on Saturday, May 21, 2016, to celebrate Mental Health

Awareness month and National BBQ month. Various members of NAMI Cobb were on hand all day to disseminate

information concerning the education and support that NAMI Cobb as well as other organizations in the community

offer to families and consumers affected by mental health issues.

Staff at Sonny’s donned their favorite superhero costume, and kids who drew a picture of their favorite superhero

received a free meal.

Our efforts were well-received. Through the course of the day we had conversations with a number of persons who

had not been familiar with NAMI and thus found an avenue for better support in their individual situations. Our

thanks to Lou Addo and staff of Sonny’s BBQ in Marietta for providing us this venue for the day to serve the

community

Fresh Start Page 9

Unwell and unashamed

The stigma of mental illness is under attack by sufferers, who are coming out publicly and

defiantly

Story by Colby Itkowitz Photos by Amanda Voisard Published on June 1, 2016

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/wp/2016/06/01/unwell-and-unashamed/

For several years, she wrote about her bipolar disorder under a pseudonym. She described how she’d been hospitalized four times, twice since her first child was born. She explained how she went off her medication during both of her pregnancies and how each time — once as the mother of a newborn and then again weeks into her second pregnancy — she was escorted from her home in police handcuffs, defiant. She blogged to connect and reach other mothers grappling with mental illness. Ultimately, however, she decided that hiding her identity was actually perpetuating the shame long associated with mental disorders. So even as her parents urged her not to, Jennifer Marshall in 2013 typed her real name on a blog post, hit publish and waited for the reaction. With those keystrokes, Marshall, who lives in Ashburn, Va., joined a growing community of people with mental illness who have chosen to out themselves. Marshall describes a surge of strength as she shared her story. “It’s human connection,” she said. “When you find someone who has been able to overcome something that you’re struggling with, it’s really powerful.” “It felt as though I was walking through life carrying this incredibly heavy secret.” Jennifer Marshall: Listen to her story

Likened by some to the gay rights movement, with its beginnings in personal revelation, the groundswell to lift the stigma connected with mental illness has had a multiplying effect accelerated by social media. The more people who “come out” about their mental illness and are met with acceptance, the more others feel it’s safe to do the same. Since the beginning of this year, millions have tweeted about their mental illness, many using established hashtags. For example, the campaigns #imnotashamed and #sicknotweak were tweeted 75,000 times and 139,000 times, respectively, since Jan. 1, according to an analysis from Twitter. The movement #BellLetsTalk, which began in Canada to “start breaking down the barriers associated with mental illness,” received 6.8 million tweets in January from all over the world. While U.S. mental-health experts said there is not yet scientific data tracking the increase in voluntary disclosures of mental illness, social media has been employed so much to that end that a former Johns Hopkins professor is studying behavioral trends by mining tweets in which people talk explicitly about their mental illnesses. Glen Coppersmith said that he was initially surprised by how many people disclose that information online. Coppersmith’s Twitter analysis shows that since 2014, hundreds of people a day have tweeted that they have received diagnoses of mental illness. “Some of it is to end the stigma; some is an explanation of past behavior,” said Coppersmith, who recently started a company, Qntfy, to analyze mental-health data. He added that he “wholeheartedly” believes such disclosures have risen to the level of a movement. The trend has been buoyed, experts say, by advancements in neuroscience that have enabled people to cast off stereotypes of mental illness as a personal failing and view it instead as the result of physiological changes in the brain that can be treated much like physical illnesses.

Page 10 Fresh Start “We’ve become a much more sophisticated society about mental health,” said Bernice Pescosolido, a professor at Indiana University and an expert in mental-health stigma. “As people, we are opening up more about issues of race, issues of gender, issues of health generally. This is intertwined with the fabric of life.” But prejudice persists, particularly in the workplace, and Pescosolido and other experts say it remains to be seen whether the outpouring that is contained largely to social media will translate into advocacy and less discrimination in daily life. The stigma “is still out there,” Pescosolido said. “I think it’s an opportunity. We’ve had a resurgence in the science; we’ve had a resurgence of people coming forward.” The stigma fighters Sarah Fader did not want her children to grow up thinking they had to be ashamed of their feelings, as she had been her entire life. So she decided to open up about the panic disorder from which she had suffered since she was a teenager. In early 2014, she penned “Fighting Against the Stigma of Mental Illness” for the Huffington Post to describe her struggles. She described how others had belittled her for her illness, telling her that she was merely being “dramatic” or disparaging her use of antidepressants. Hundreds of people from all over the world sent her messages relating their own experiences with shame. Then Fader met Allie Burke, who lives with schizophrenia, through a mental-health advocacy community on Facebook. The two women teamed up to launch Stigma Fighters, a blog and nonprofit dedicated to giving other people a platform to share their stories. Since its launch in March 2014, hundreds of people have written pieces for the blog. Fader originally let contributors write anonymously or under first names, but then Marshall reached out to Fader through social media to share her own epiphany about not hiding behind a fake name. So now Fader requires almost everyone contributing to the blog to write under their full names. Those who overcome their fears of being judged and do so start to view themselves as survivors. Amy Bleuel, who was depressed and plagued with suicidal thoughts most of her life, noticed the same phenomenon when she launched Project Semicolon in 2013. Her father died by suicide when she was 18, and she knew that he, like she, had felt alone in his illness.

“I want to give other people hope.” Sarah Fader: Listen to her story

In April 2013, after a conversation with a friend yielded the idea, Bleuel tweeted a request for people to draw a semicolon on their wrists. People with mental illness often think their lives are over. But the semicolon signifies that there’s more to your story, Bleuel said; it’s used by authors when they’re not ready to end a sentence. Since then, thousands of people around the world have posted pictures of themselves on social media with real semicolon tattoos. The tattoos serve as permanent reminders that life does go on. “People want to know they’re not suffering in silence,“ Bleuel said. “We want to have that discussion. We’re done losing people to suicide; we’re done not knowing what to do.” The movement to lift the stigma is also changing how mental illness is portrayed in popular culture and the arts.

“To be honest, I felt scared after I shared my story publicly.” Rachel Griffin: Listen to her story

Fresh Start Page 11 In the FX Network show “You’re the Worst,” the audience came to know one of the main characters as a gregarious party girl with, yes, questionable morals. Then, in the second season, it is revealed that Gretchen Cutler’s lifestyle is a diversion from recurrent depression. When it comes roaring back, she fears telling her boyfriend that “my brain is broken.” “To be honest, I felt scared after I shared my story publicly.” Rachel Griffin: Listen to her story The portrayal was widely acclaimed. “I continually run into people who suffer from depression, and it was something very secretive, and we’re just seemingly starting to come into the light a little more,” said Stephen Falk, the show’s creator. “I thought if we could help that process along at all, then we’d be doing a service.” That’s what Rachel Griffin, a singer-songwriter in New York, had in mind when she embarked on writing a musical about life in a psychiatric ward. The main character, Jane, is a young woman with severe panic disorder and depression. Throughout the show, another character portrays Depression — always hovering, sometimes controlling the conversation. Jane’s symptoms worsen until she checks herself into a mental hospital. Griffin sees her show as doing for mental illness what “Rent” did for HIV/AIDs by presenting complex characters who are more than just their illnesses. She started writing the show while riding the subway as an outlet for her depression and anxiety. “It’s about empowerment,” she said. Coming out on the air “The stigma is most damaging not when others see it in a certain way, but when we see it that way ourselves,” said Michael Landsberg, a successful Canadian sportscaster who has a diagnosis of depression. “I tell people all the time . . . when you believe the stigma, that it’s a reflection of weakness, you tell it in a way that sounds weak: ‘I’m sorry; I don’t know why I do this; I’m so ungrateful.’ ” The alternative, Landsberg says, is this: “I suffer from a mental-health problem; I have depression; this has taken a lot from my life.” Before suffering a breakdown at age 39, Landsberg said, he was among those who thought someone with depression should just buck up and get over it. Then his illness descended. It didn’t knock him down at first, he said. Rather, it tapped at him incessantly. He was on and off medication until November 2008, when the pain became too much to bear and he had his final relapse.

1.1 percent of American adults live with S CH I ZO P H R EN I A

2.6 percent of American adults live with B I P O L AR DI S O R DE R

6.7 percent of American adults live with M AJ O R D EP RE S S I O N

“With severe depression, one of the symptoms is loss of being able to feel joy,” said Landsberg, 58. “You know with 100 percent certainty you won’t be able to feel joy that day. That’s the most profoundly damaging aspect of depression.” In 2009, Landsberg was set to interview hockey player Stéphane Richer on his show when in his research he learned that Richer had also battled depression. Landsberg asked Richer whether it was okay for them to share their experiences on the air.

Page 12 Fresh Start During the interview, Richer confided that he tried to kill himself in 1995, four days after winning the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. Emails poured in, some from viewers who said that hearing the two men talking about depression openly and with no shame was life-changing. Just a few months ago, Landsberg started a social-media campaign, #sicknotweak. The international response — a lot of it from the United States — was overwhelming, he said. The catharsis and sense of community that followed emboldened him, Landsberg said. “The best way to show someone you’re not weak is to show it with strength,” he said. Such boldness is contagious. Paolo del Vecchio, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s director for mental health services, said he suffered with depression and anxiety since he was a child but was reluctant to talk about it openly. Then, through his work, he began meeting people who were willing to open up. “That made all the difference; that made it safe for me to be able to share,” he said. “When people disclose, it is the most effective way of reducing negative attitudes, what we’ve called stigma. And that’s the power.’’ This Is My Brave’

Helen Dennis was preparing to stand alone on a stage in front of an audience on May 15 and describe how what was dismissed as moodiness when she was a child was actually the first sign of bipolar disorder. Dennis’s illness later manifested itself as deep depression. In 2007, when she was 27, she became so desperate to escape the pain that she called in sick to work, ready to take her own life. “I would have these periods when I couldn’t think straight. The suicidal thoughts were rampant. . . . Nothing I could say or do could make me feel better,” she said. “It’s that sense of loss of control over your very personhood that really made me feel like I was weak. I said I’m the worst person; I’m not strong enough to live this life.” She called her now-husband, and he knew by her voice that something was very wrong. He came home and, for the first time, she shared everything with him. He took her to a hospital, where she was finally received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. But for the most part, Dennis was too ashamed to speak about her illness. Then she heard about Jennifer Marshall. Marshall experienced her first manic episode at 26. She was forced to give up a high-pressure job at a recruitment agency in Washington after two back-to-back hospital stays. She had been able to keep her symptoms at bay until she went off her medication several years later for her pregnancies. Once she told her story, revealing her identity on her blog as a mother with bipolar disorder, no one judged her, Marshall said. Instead, she received a flood of supportive emails. Whatever residual shame she felt about her illness dissipated. In 2013, Marshall started “This Is My Brave,” a stage show appearing around the country this spring in which cast members tell their stories of mental illness, some for the first time. Dennis was to be among those to stand at center stage under a spotlight, sharing their stories of mental illness. Dennis isn’t sure what compelled her to audition for Marshall. But on that day, she said, the words poured out. “I’m a touch terrified because there is still such a strong stigma around it; there’s a lot of misinformation about it,” she said. “But I truly believe as people see co-workers and friends come out of the woodwork and be honest about this . . . it shows it can happen to anyone. . . . You feel so alone when you’re going through the worst of it; to hear you’re not alone for me is revolutionary.”

Fresh Start Page 13

Thank you so much for your interest in joining NAMI Cobb Affiliate! Please complete the form below, and mail this with your check made out to

NAMI Cobb. (If you wish to pay by credit card, go to www. nami.org and click on “Become a Member”. You will start receiving our monthly

electronic newsletter within the month. You are also invited to attend our monthly education and support meetings at St. James Episcopal Church in

Marietta, 161 Church St. NE, on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30pm (there is a time to look at resources and brochures at 7pm). You are not

alone. Come join us.

NAMI Cobb JUNE 2016

P.O. Box 999

Kennesaw, GA 30156

TO:

Yes, I would like to join NAMI Cobb of Georgia! Date:____________________

New

Renewal

$3 Financial Hardship Membership

(Please note there has been a slight increase in membership fees nationally).

___________Donation (I would like to give an additional donation

to support NAMI-Cobb programming and outreach) Name(s):______________________________________

Address:______________________________________

_______________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________

Email: _______________________________________

I am interested in volunteering. My skill is ________________________.

NEW LOCATION AND MEETING

DAY

Family Care and Share Support Group

For families of those with a mental illness

1st Presbyterian Church

189 Church St

Marietta, GA

MONDAYS Time: 7-8:30 PM

Susie Allen 770-565-4335

Greg Ausham 330-801-0328

Sylvia Oliphant 678-471-5907

Monthly NAMI Cobb General Meeting

Educational Meeting

Next meeting will be

June 16, 2016

7:00 PM Networking/Social

7:30 PM Program

**Please mail this form along with your check to:

NAMI Cobb, P.O. Box 999 Kennesaw, GA 30156

Thank you for your membership!