A free 12-week course called Family-to-Family, sponsored by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) in Butler County, began March 8 in Fairfield, Ohio.
Family-to-Family is designed to help family members understand and cope with a relative who has a major mental health disorder. Teachers are family members who have completed the course previously and have been trained by NAMI. All attendees receive a free resource handbook.
Sally Fiehrer, executive director of NAMI Butler County, said for more than 20 years Family-to-Family has helped family members with friends or relatives struggling with a major mental health disorder to understand and cope.
"It's kind of a self-care program for families to learn how to take care of themselves," Fiehrer said. "(It creates) empathy toward the person that has the illness so they understand what's going on."
Throughout the 12 weeks, self-care, medication, medications management, coping skills and communication skills are addressed. Then specific illnesses are discussed, according to Fiehrer. Some illnesses include schizophrenia, bipolar illness, depression and anxiety disorders.
Fiehrer explained the level of misunderstanding for some families that are not educated about mental disorders.
"These are brain disorders by chemical or neurological disorders of the brain," Fiehrer said.
Feihrer said sometimes families feel very much alone because of the stigma of these illnesses.
"They might not talk about it," Fiehrer said. "(And they might) not have a group of friends discussing it. In NAMI and Family-to-Family, (people) feel comfortable discussing these disorders. It's that instant message that they're not alone. These illnesses can happen to any family."
Jim Jones, a Butler County resident, heard about NAMI's Family-to-Family five or six years ago, and has since been giving back to NAMI by teaching the course. Jones and his wife have a son that suffers from bipolar disorder.
"(The class) helped me understand the situation that people suffer from mental disorders and the things they go through, (and you) get a new understanding of what your loved one is experiencing," Jones said.
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Jones said the course was extremely helpful to him and his family and he sees that for others.
"The program overall just gives families overall suffering with a loved one with mental illness tools and coping skills to make them feel better, how they're doing and how their loved one is," Jones said.
Because the course is in a group setting, Jones was able to bond with the others in his course that were going through the same thing. Jones said it was difficult to talk about mental illness with a neighbor who perhaps didn't understand what he and his wife were going through with their son.
"I think there's comfort in togetherness," Jones said. "There's a certain bonding with the families suffering from the same thing. It helps a lot of people when they go through the course."
NAMI also has a follow-up support group for graduates of Family-to-Family.
"(The follow-up is) to keep that bonding growing," Fiehrer said. "It would be too bad if they just dropped it there."
Although membership is not required, NAMI teachers encourage attendees to join NAMI and the follow-up support groups.
NAMI also offers a program called Hand-to-Hand for families who have children under age 18 with one of the major mental illnesses.
Fiehrer said by late March or early May, NAMI would offer a Peer-to-Peer program for individuals with the illnesses. The Peer-to-Peer program is meant for those with mental illnesses who are steadily recovering; they also teach others with mental illnesses. Location and transportation logistics are in the works for the Peer-to-Peer sessions, according to Fiehrer.
Fiehrer said NAMI Butler County is available by phone for compassionate listening as well.
"We are available to families when they need us," Fiehrer said.
Fiehrer said NAMI Butler County feels the work Family-to-Family is doing is positive for the families taking part.
"It makes a difference in their lives," Fiehrer said. "They are armed with information maybe for the first time in their lives. That it really has helped thousands of people and thousands of families."
Registration limit is 20 people and at least nine spots remain. Classes are held once a week on Mondays from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the NAMI Butler County Office in Fairfield starting March 8. Membership is not required, but encouraged. NAMI membership costs for $35 can be paid online. See http://www.nami.org for more information and other session dates and locations.
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