DECEMBER 2018 

 Due to the holiday season, we are sending you 
an abbreviated newsletter 
with our wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday.

From the desk of Jackie Lane, Executive Director  NAMI CC&I 


We, the staff, at NAMI CC&I want to take the opportunity to wish all of you a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season and to thank all our volunteers, donors, and members for their support throughout the year. It is your participation that enables NAMI CC&I to continue to grow and serve the many mental health needs of the families of Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
 
As 2018 draws to a close, we are busy reviewing our community and family programming and evaluating our efforts. We are also planning our initiatives for 2019 and the future, based on the perceived needs of our community. The success of these plans will rely on our relationships and partnerships with others, so we also want to thank our important community collaborators for supporting, enriching, and participating in our efforts to educate, support, and advocate for our Cape and island populations. "It Takes a Community" and continuous communication within that community to work through the many obstacles that we, as providers, face in the critical field of mental health. In 2019, we pledge to enhance and strengthen these relationships.
 
In this world where divisions, prejudices, and downright mean spiritedness seem to dominate the headlines, let's all try to celebrate the season by "committing at least one random act of kindness."
 
Sincerely,
 
Jacqueline Lane, Executive Director
 
PS: NAMI CC&I offices will be closed for the day on Monday, December 24th and Monday, December 31st to allow our staff an extended family holiday.



We printed this last month as well, but feel it is so important, we are printing it again for those who may not have had a chance to read it...

Some Thoughts on the Holiday Season
by
  Dr. James P.D. McGuire


 The fall and winter seasons are times for reflection and renewal. 

Many winters ago, I was at Green airport outside of Providence. It was mid-December. As I stepped out of the physical warmth of the airport, I began to shiver in a winter drizzle waiting for a cab. Standing there I noticed a young mother nursing and singing to her infant on the nearby bench and instantly felt warm and grateful for their presence. 

Holiday seasons in our culture are driven by unrealistic expectations and demands that can bring anxiety, depression and disappointment. 

Neuroscience has taught us that human beings are built with not one but two primary reward systems in our brains. Both are needed for our survival. However, they work in very different ways and seek different rewards. When they work collaboratively, they are terrific. When they work in competition or in isolation and not collaboratively, we can have significant problems.  

One of the reward systems attends to our needs to ACQUIRE things such shelter, partners, and social status as well as "stuff." The other reward system attends to our need to BELONG, to feel safe and loved in our connection with our community. When these reward systems become skewed to acquisition of things rather than to belonging in the warmth of connection and safety with people, we as human beings, are in trouble. Without the Belong system we are adrift in anxiety, unable to explore and share our world with others. The most basic need for emotional survival is to be secure in the sense that we belong, that we are connected to others.  

The holiday season can be particularly difficult for patients and families with mental illness because of the demands in our culture to AQUIRE.  

I am always grateful at this time of year for the families and community members who help in the support and care for people with mental illness throughout the year, day in day out.  I work with the constant reminder of how these partners and communities soothe, suffer, heal and abide with their kin through oftentimes great frustration, with resolve and kindness. 

I am grateful for NAMI Cape Cod and the Islands for their tremendous efforts to unite our community in collaborative efforts to better understand and care for each other's emotional needs. 

There are many helpful suggestions for the holidays in books, magazines, and the internet for how to survive the holidays. My recommendation to all of you for the holidays is to pay much more attention to the needs of the Belong system and to resist the siren's call of the Acquire system. 

In this Holiday season one way to relieve stress is to help out where you belong to lessen the work loads of those who organize the holidays. Find ways you can make the work of the holidays a shared task. Do things together whether cooking meals and baking cookies, singing songs, going to services and/or events with your faith group. Nothing is more rewarding than doing with and for others. Renew old and new relationships. Let others know by your presence that they are part of your world. 

And remember to be especially kind to yourself, to your kin and to all of the people in your world.  I wish you peaceful and happy holidays. 



            NAMI Education and Support Reminders
 
 
Support Groups:    All NAMI Support Groups will meet at their regular time and place this month except for the following changes:
 
     The Wellfleet Support Group will meet on Tuesday, December 18th at Preservation Hall, 6-7:30 p.m.,  instead of the usual 4th Tuesday of the month which falls on Christmas Day.
 
     The Falmouth Support Group meeting scheduled for Monday, December 24th is cancelled.

NAMI Cape & Islands has been discussing the idea of starting a new Support Group to meet in Hyannis in the afternoon.  We recognize that some individuals have difficulty traveling at night, and as the days grow shorter and colder, we think this may be a good time to start a group.  It would be most helpful to the organization to know if this meeting offer would be helpful to our members prior to implementing it.  If you could please reach out and let us know if this is an offering that would be helpful to you, please email Kim at    klemmon@namicapecod.org   or call the office at 508-778-4277.

Educational Programs:     Family to Family will begin in Wellfleet on Wednesday, January 2nd, 5 - 7:30 p.m.  There are a few spaces available.  Please contact Kim Lemmon for information and registration.

Family to Family courses are being organized on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.  For information and registration on Nantucket please contact Suzanne at 508-221-6202or namionnantucket@gmail.com.    On Martha's Vineyard contact Lisa at  508-776-3746 or namionthevineyard@namicapecod.org.

Homefront is a six week course similar to Family to Family for military families. This is a new program to Massachusetts, and currently will only be available on 
Cape Cod. The first offering of  Homefront will begin in Barnstable on January 9, 2019,  6 - 8:30 p.m. For more information and registration  call Kim Lemmon at 508-778-4277 or email klemmon@namicapecod.org


    
The Primer on Mental Health
WE'RE PUBLISHED!! You Are Not Alone: A Primer on Mental Illness, which has been in development for the past 18 months,will be reprinted in January. (Call or email the office to make arrangements for your personal copy or copies for your organization.)   The Primer is also online on our NAMI CC&I web site. 

The production and publication of this 88-page booklet was made possible by generous support from the Cape Cod Healthcare Community Benefits Fund, The Kelley Foundation, Inc. and The Cape Cod Five Foundation.

When  shopping on Amazon, think NAMI CC&I and Amazon Smile.
 Every dollar you give to NAMI CC&I goes to help support, educate and advocate for the residents of Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.  



AmazonSmile is a simple way to give when you are shopping on Amazon

Amazon donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases. 
It's so easy, you can still use your Amazon Prime and you still collect points.  All you need to do is:  When you are going to make a purchase on Amazon, first enter
in your internet browser. On your first visit to AmazonSmile, you will be prompted to select a charitable organization .  
Select NAMI Cape Cod Inc.
Thank You!