Hope and help

NAMI Southern Maryland marks two years of free assistance both to those dealing with mental illness and to their family members

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by REID SILVERMAN Amy Henderson, above, and Connie Walker, left, describe some of the programs offered by NAMI Southern Maryland in the chapter’s new office, just opened this month in Lexington Park. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Amy Henderson, above, and Connie Walker, left, describe some of the programs offered by NAMI Southern Maryland in the chapter’s new office, just opened this month in Lexington Park.

‘‘It’s my way of fighting,” she said then of her efforts.

As the mother of a soldier who had returned from a tour of duty in Kuwait suffering from a serious mental illness two years earlier, Walker was convinced that area families also dealing with mental illness needed the services that NAMI could provide — support, information, training and advocacy for both family members and for those with a mental illness.

On Monday, Walker considered how far the Southern Maryland chapter of NAMI has come since two summers ago.

She sat in an easy chair in the chapter’s new office, just opened this month in Lexington Park. She talked about the new office, the chapter’s 11-member board, the numerous free programs now offered throughout the tri-county area and some of the plans for the future for NAMI Southern Maryland.

‘‘I’m happy where things are,” she said. ‘‘But I’m really tired.”

‘No one bringsyou a casserole’

Amy Henderson of Leonardtown is a mother and wife. She describes herself as just a regular person from a regular family that has had to deal with mental illness. And it’s been a challenge.

‘‘I had seen articles about Connie and NAMI in the paper,” Henderson said. But at first Henderson didn’t think she needed NAMI’s programs. She thought she was coping OK. But then, between January and April she had two family members whose condition got to the point where they needed to be hospitalized, and Henderson turned to NAMI for help.

‘‘It’s extremely bewildering,” Henderson said, trying to describe how mental illness affects a family.

‘‘With any other illness, people have a grasp of the physical impact,” she said, noting there is some idea of what medication is needed, how much and for how long. With a mental illness, ‘‘you are so confused — what’s happening? How’s this going to affect the rest of the family.” There can be changes in the family member that are scary, she said.

Family members, although considered a critical support structure for a person with mental illness, can feel out of the loop due to medical privacy rules. The can also feel as if others don’t understand the challenges they face.

‘‘These are illnesses [where] no one brings you a casserole,” Henderson said, reiterating a sentiment expressed by another participant in a NAMI program. ‘‘It can feel very lonely. You can feel misunderstood.”

Henderson signed up for a Family-to-Family class offered by NAMI in Prince Frederick. ‘‘It really was a lifeline,” she said.

The 12-week class met once a week and took her from anger and disappointment to feeling ‘‘this is something I can actually turn into a hopeful thing,” she said. Halfway through the class, which covered topics like brain biology, medication, problem solving and self care, Henderson decided the class was so helpful that she wanted to be trained to teach it herself. She started training to be a teacher even before the 12-week course was done.

‘‘It’s an illness ... It’s not a character flaw. It needs treatment,” Henderson said.

‘A relief to meet other people just like me’

Sarah Ashworth of Leonardtown is like a poster child of successful recovery for NAMI Southern Maryland. Last fall, the young woman was struggling with her mental illness. ‘‘I didn’t talk to anyone. I was a recluse,” she said from the NAMI office on Monday morning.

Ashworth got in touch with Walker, who encouraged her, in addition to continuing her medical treatment, to participate in a Connections support group run by NAMI Southern Maryland in Charlotte Hall which meets biweekly.

‘‘It was such a relief to meet other people just like me and not to feel so alone,” she said with a smile. ‘‘It really helped my recovery.”

Now Ashworth facilitates her own Connections group in Lexington Park. And she sometimes participates in another NAMI program, In Our Own Voice — presentations given to churches, civic groups and businesses by people in recovery from mental illness to help increase understanding from the community. ‘‘It’s great to increase awareness and break down stereotypes,” Ashworth said.

Ashworth has also gone through training to lead a Peer-to-Peer class for NAMI, a class similar to Family-to-Family but designed for those who are in recovery from mental illness themselves. The nine-week course taught by three trained mentors will start Sept. 17 at On Our Own in Leonardtown.

What has her participation with NAMI meant to her?

‘‘Well, I don’t know if I’m going to articulate this very well ... NAMI has meant the world for me. It hasn’t replaced my treatment. It hasn’t replaced my medication,” she said. ‘‘It’s made my life a lot better. It’s made my life more complete. It’s made me feel like I’ve helped, and I’m going to help a lot of people who are in the place I was not so long ago ... I have the resources I need.”

Walker listened to Ashworth and motioned toward her. ‘‘This is successful recovery,” she said.