FEATURED VIDEO CLIP: Overcoming Stigma: Finding Hope

A video clip on Overcoming Stigma: Finding Hope, is available on the Mental Health Ministries website under Resources/Video Clips and on YouTube. 

Sabbaths of Hope

Mental Health America of the Heartland has developed resources for Sabbaths of Hope to help faith communities responding to depression. It is an initiative that aims to:

• enable clergy, seminarians, and other faith leaders to recognize signs and symptoms of depression
• offer more effective support to congregants and clergy suffering from depression
• provide referral and linkage to treatment options
• address stigma, discrimination, and other barriers to treatment
• promote holistic approaches to depression treatment

Faith community participants receive training and resources to enable them to conduct educational events for congregants and colleagues. All of this culminates in a congregationally designated Sabbaths of Hope weekend observance in May, designated National Mental Health Month.

Here are a few quotes from faith leaders who have observed Sabbaths of Hope:

• “Sabbaths of Hope will be an annual observance in our congregation. It will also be an ongoing ministry effort in the church, both within the congregation and the community at large.”
• “This program has had unintended consequences. In addition to raising depression awareness within our congregation and the community at large, Sabbaths of Hope challenged us to take a look within our congregation at what resources we might already have among us that we are failing to utilize. As it turns out,... we already had within our congregation significantly more resources than we realized.”
• “When we combine Sabbaths of Hope resources with our own, we have the opportunity not only to raise depression awareness, but make a significant impact on those who are suffering from this disease.”
• “Our Sabbaths of Hope is coming just at the right time, as many are questioning and concerned about loved ones and fellow members who may be struggling with depression and grief and other mental and emotional issues.

For additional information and resources available in English and Spanish go to http://www.mhah.org/Programs/MHPSOHO.html

NEW BOOK: A Stone's Throw: Living with a Loved One's Depression

ABOUT THE BOOK: Are you struggling with a loved one's illness? Do you struggle with feelings of loneliness, sadness, and anger? Do you feel guilty for having those feelings because you aren't the one who is actually ill? Do you find yourself wanting to run far away even for just a little while? Do you wish there was someone you could talk to that could validate these feelings?   In A Stone’s Throw: Living With a Loved One’s Depression, Kay Cee shares her journey of living with a loved one's depression.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kay J. Cee is a wife and mom who still lives in the small, Southern town she was born in. She believes God has used this episode in her life to draw her closer to Him and to bring comfort to those who often go overlooked in the chaos of life.  The book is available on Amazon by clicking here.

NEW BOOK: Wednesday Wonderings: Spiritual Journaling Through a Lens

For some time I have been receiving the Wednesday Wonderings weekly emails from Rev. Gary Nelson.  His devotions have been an inspiration in my own spiritual journey so I was delighted to hear that some of Nelson’s writings are now available in a book.

In Wednesday Wonderings Gary Nelson invites the reader into his own spiritual journey through the lens of the camera he carries with him. He has experimented with many methods and discovered that the camera lens often provides him one of the best means to notice, listen, and respond to God. The camera offers the opportunity to wonder about life lived in relationship with God and others. Through the process this pastor and pastoral counselor's devotions, called Wednesday Wonderings, offer helpful insights for life and an invitation for all of us to find our own means to wonder. 

Rev. Gary Nelson’s new book, Wednesday Wonderings: Spiritual Journaling Through a Lens, is available at www.wipfandstock.com and www.amazon.com.

The proceeds from the sale of Rev. Nelson’s books go to his ministry to offer free seminars on teen depression in schools, churches, colleges, professional gatherings, etc. to educate about teen depression.  For more information on his other book, A Relentless Hope: Surviving the Storm of Teen Depression, visit www.survivingteendepression.com.

NAMI National Convention FaithNet Offerings

I have the privilege of working with the NAMI FaithNet national Advisory Committee.  We have created some training modules to help NAMI members educate faith communities about mental illness.  These powerpoint modules and many other resources are available on the NAMI FaithNet page at www.nami.org/namifaithnet.  I encourage you to sign up to receive the NAMI FaithNet e-newsletters with timely resources.

The theme for this year’s NAMI national convention is “Together We Can Make a Difference.”  The convention will be held in San Antonio at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, June 27-30.  There will be a number of offerings related to faith and spirituality including Veterans and Families: Role of Faith, Community and Recovery, Faith Communities: A Help or a Hindrance, NAMI FaithNet Networking Session and a training session on the NAMI FaithNet training material.

You can check out the conference schedule and conference registration at http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=convention

SAMHSA

SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health’s Service Agency) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  has developed a website that integrates information from SAMHSA with Faith-Based and Community initiatives from the Administration on Aging, Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, Office of Minority Health, and Office of Population Affairs.  http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/

DVD FROM MENTAL HEALTH MINISTRIES: Mental Illness and Families of Faith: How Congregations Can Respond

We have put the best of our educational videos on our two-DVD set to help educate faith communities about various mental health issues. The shows on the set, Mental Illness and Families of Faith: How Congregations Can Respond, are “user-friendly” and short enough to be used in a variety of settings including classes and small groups. Each segment has a discussion guide with background information, questions for discussion and where to find additional resources.

These eight shows cover a variety of mental health issues. Professionals provide important information about each illness. But mostly you will hear from real people who live with these brain disorders. Each segment presents an issue related to the experience of mental illness, puts a face to the issue and offers a message of hope.

LIST OF SHOWS
Disc 1
Coming Out of the Dark (Interfaith Introduction, (Length: 53 seconds)
Mental Illness in Different Age Groups (Length: 17:39 minutes)
Mental Illness and Families of Faith (Length: 20:50 minutes)
Understanding Depression (Length: 16:31 minutes)
Overcoming Stigma: Finding Hope (Length: 13:13 minutes)

Disc 2
Addiction and Depression (Length: 16:42 minutes)
Anxiety: Overcoming the Fear (Length: 18:49 minutes)
Teenage Depression and Suicide (Length: 14:39 minutes)
Eating Disorders: Wasting Away (Length: 12:58 minutes)
Creating Caring Congregations (Length: 10:39 minutes)

This 2 DVD set is closed captioned. This resource can be ordered on our website

Mental Illness and Families of Faith: How Congregations Can Respond

The resource/study guide, Mental Illness and Families of Faith: How Congregations Can Respond is available in English and Spanish.  It is available as a free, downloadable resource on the Mental Health Ministries Home page.

MENTAL HEALTH MINISTRIES ON FACEBOOK

You are invited to visit Mental Health Ministries on Facebook. I hope you will “Like” our new site.
Mental Health Ministries in now on Facebook.

SNIPPETS FROM SUSAN

Margin for Error
The other day I was “beating myself up” for something stupid I had done.  I recalled a Peanuts cartoon I had seen some years ago.  Lucy, as usual, is being her “school marmish” best.  She says to Charlie: “Sooner or later there is one thing you’re going to have to learn.  You reap what you sow, you get out of life exactly what you put into it, no more and no less.” 

Charlie sheepishly replies, “I’d kind of like to see a little margin for error!”

We can all be our own worst Lucys.  I’m just as guilty as most of you of being too hard on myself.  I’m so grateful that our God is a God of grace...and allows for a margin for error!