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Bridges of Hope Faith Communities and NAMI

Bridges of Hope Faith Communities and NAMI. Outline. What mental illness isn’t What is mental illness and its impact? What is the role of faith and faith communities in recovery? Who is NAMI? What resources are available? . Torrents of Mental Illness. Bridges to Mental Health Care.

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Bridges of Hope Faith Communities and NAMI

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  1. Bridges of Hope Faith Communities and NAMI

  2. Outline • What mental illness isn’t • What is mental illness and its impact? • What is the role of faith and faith communities in recovery? • Who is NAMI? What resources are available?

  3. Torrents of Mental Illness

  4. Bridges to Mental Health Care

  5. What Mental Illness Isn’t • Sin • A lack of faith • A character flaw • Weakness • Demon possession

  6. What Mental Illness Is • A serious medical illness • Includes depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar illness, OCD, PTSD and more • Are equal opportunity illnesses • Untreated, have long reaching consequences • Treatable for most

  7. What Does an Ill Mind Look Like? Single Photon Emitted Computed Tomography (SPECT)Measures Blood Flow within the Brain Calm Working Working Hard

  8. We Are All Human

  9. Red Flags • a marked personality change • an inability to cope with problems and daily activities • strange or grandiose ideas • excessive anxiety • prolonged depression or apathy

  10. Red Flags • marked changes in eating or sleeping patterns • thinking or talking about suicide • extreme highs and lows • abuse of alcohol or drugs • excessive anger, hostility or violent behavior

  11. The Scope of Mental Illness • 1 in 4 adults experiences a mental health disorder in a given year • About 1 in 17 lives with a serious mental illness • 45 % of the homeless population lives with a serious mental illness • More mentally ill people live on the streets than receive treatment

  12. The Scope of Mental Illness • About 45 - 65 % of jail and prison inmates and 70% of youth involved with juvenile justice live with a mental illness. • Ten times as many mentally ill people are in jail as in the hospital. • We lose one life to suicide every 15.8 minutes.

  13. The Scope of Mental Illness… … among our children

  14. Treatment Works

  15. Spiritual Questions • Where is God in this? • Why do bad things happen to good people? • How can my faith help me heal? • What now? Is there meaning and purpose for my life? Where do I belong?

  16. Were Bible figures ever depressed? • Job 7:7 “my eyes will never see happiness again.” • Jer. 20:14 “Cursed be the day I was born!” • Psa. 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” • Num. 11:15 “If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me”

  17. What did Christ say to the hurting? • Mat. 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” • John 9:1-3 Man born blind – “this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

  18. How Does Faith Figure In?

  19. How Churches Often React • Clergy denies or dismissed 30 – 40% of mental disorders • 15% said it weakened their faith • 12% said it destroyed their faith • Many families feel abandoned • Mental Illness is commonly attributed to: • Sin • Weak faith • Demonic influence

  20. How Accepting are Churches?

  21. Is Prayer Enough?

  22. Spiritual Isolation

  23. How Words Impact

  24. The Role of Faith Communities

  25. Faith Communities’ Unique Role • Clergy are on the front lines • Faith communities are more numerous • They provide education settings • They are committed to social justice and caring • Faith is a key component in coping and recovery

  26. Faith Groups Provide a Bridge to Hope

  27. Responding to Illness When Ellyn had cancer she received: • Visits in the hospital • Notes and cards • Meals for her family • Prayers • Support for treatment • A ‘welcome back’ When Ellyn had mental illness, she received: • Visits in the hospital • Notes and cards • Meals for her family • Prayers • Support for treatment • A ‘welcome back’

  28. Stigma

  29. “In the Kingdom of God there is neither Jew nor Greek, people with schizophrenia nor dementia, only people loved equally by God and called to live humanly.”- John Swinton

  30. One-on-One Basic Care • Learn to recognize and accept. • Assist in finding the help needed. • Support treatment and recovery. • Attend to the person’s basic needs. • Offer spiritual support.

  31. Types of Spiritual Support • Offer the gift of presence • Listen and share the journey • Hold them in thought and prayer

  32. What Does the Bible Say? • Rom. 15:1 – Bear those without strength • 1 Thes. 5:14 – Encourage the fainthearted • Gal. 6:2 – Carry each other’s burdens

  33. Don’t Use the Bible as a Club • My grace is sufficient – 2 Cor. 12:9 • Be anxious for nothing – Phil. 4: 6 • Just pray more “Up until that point in my life, if you had asked me how to deal with problems I’d say, ‘Man, get on your knees and talk to God, get in the Word of God; he’ll straighten out any problems you’ve got.’ That was my answer. And so I’m sure that the Lord knew if he was going to use me at all, he had to get me past that very juvenile answer to everything.” - Charles Stanley

  34. Providing Care to the Family • Reach out – be a friend. • Learn about the illness. • Create a supportive network or group. • Learn what is helpful and hurtful to do or say. • Provide community resource referrals.

  35. You Can Make a Difference “If we ignore … cries for help, we will be continuing to participate in the anguish from which those cries of help come.  A problem of this magnitude will not go away.  Because it will not go away, and because of our spiritual commitments, we are compelled to take action.” −First Lady Rosalynn Carter

  36. What is NAMI? • Grassroots organization • Dedicated to building better lives • Pillars of Action: Education, Support, Advocacy, Research • Three-tiers: National, State and Local Affiliates • “Peer-led” and “lived-experience” approach

  37. Education and Support Programs

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