Big Island volunteers will sponsor a NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of people diagnosed with serious mental illness. ADVERTISING Big Island volunteers will sponsor a NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of people diagnosed with serious mental
Big Island volunteers will sponsor a NAMI Family-to-Family Education Program specifically for families of people diagnosed with serious mental illness.
Each weekly class is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays from April 2-May 7 in the St. Joseph’s Church meeting room at 43 Kapiolani St., Hilo.
The course will cover information about schizophrenia, mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depression), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder and co-occurring brain and addictive disorders.
The series also will explore coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse, basic information about medications, listening and communication techniques, problem-solving skills, recovery and rehabilitation, and self-care around worry and stress.
NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
The course will be taught by NAMI-Hawaii-Big Island family member volunteers who have taken intensive training as course instructors.
The co-teachers for the Hilo area will be Carolyn Oki, Carol Denis and Kathy Hammes.
“This course is designed specifically for parents, siblings, spouses, teenage and adult daughters and sons, partners, and significant others who are caregivers of persons with severe and persistent mental illness,” Oki said.
The course is not appropriate for individuals who themselves have a major mental illness, Oki added.
The NAMI Family-to-Family Education Course is free. For more information or to register, call Oki at 935-3518 or Denis at 935-0615.
