TONIGHT I attended the eighth of 12 meetings at NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness.We learned more about empathy tonight and reflective conversation. The use of emphasizing "I" and not "you" when making statements to our mentally ill family members.
Brain disorders are what I am learning about during this 12-week class.
Many times we believe family members are alcoholics or drug users because they want to be. Sometimes it's to quiet the voices they hear inside or to escape those voices.
Sometimes it's a dual problem.
If you have someone with a brain disorder in your family - bipolar illness, schizophrenia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder - look into finding your local NAMI chapter and seek out the information they can provide. The Family to Family class is excellent! - femminismo
3 comments:
It's wonderful to walk a mile in another's shoes.. especially the hard ones, good for you.
This is a great post, Jeanne. So many folks forget there are real people with real problems that oftentimes can be helped to a large extent, if one only knows what to do...
Have a great great day.
Candace
Good for you. Sounds like a great course.
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