FEBRUARY 2019
Knitting for NAMI to Benefit the Homeless
With A Great Yarn of Chatham
Knit 72" long strips x 50 stitches across
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From the desk of Jackie Lane, Executive Director NAMI CC&I
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We at NAMI CC&I feel that our mission is to promote mental health and wellness for our Cape Cod and Island community, a mission that is inclusive of all types of mental health issues from serious mental illnesses to situational depressions. Mental health issues come in many forms and all of us at one time or another will no doubt experience some degree of depression, anxiety, or even panic. Keeping one’s life on an “even keel” is a challenge that takes diligence.
As is often the case, circumstances occurring in one’s personal life lead to introspection and in the case of a stressful situation, to mental health issues including anxiety and depression. I am a lover of the natural world – of plants and animals. My animal (pet) of choice throughout my entire life has been the cat. (We have also had dogs whom we have loved.) So, when our sixteen-year old black, Maine Coon cat, Smudge, was diagnosed with a form of cancer six months ago, stress, anxiety, and depression hit. We obtained Smudge and his sister Chelsea, a black and white female, from a small breeder in Manhattan when they were ten weeks old and we often say that they were one of the best investments we ever made. (Yes, we have also, through the years, had our share of rescue animals.) Smudge and Chelsea have, in addition to providing endless amusement, given us unconditional love and affection on a daily basis. They earn their cat food in their roles as mood stabilizers!
Throughout history, mankind has had animal companionship. Dogs and horses were so much a part of the English country life that it has been said that they were often treated with more affection than children who were raised by nannies and sent off to boarding schools at a very young age. Animal therapy is now a category of therapy. Horse therapy is highly successful and there are stables on the Cape that specialize in it. We have seen the use of service dogs for a long time, but now we have therapy dogs that are taken to schools, to nursing homes, and to visit shut-ins. We have a client who has suffered from severe mental health issues most of her life and her dog is what keeps her going when the feeling of hopelessness strikes. I know a person who recently lost a spouse and has adopted two cats and is finding them a delight and good company. Having and caring for another living being is often healing. I have read that petting a cat or a dog actually lowers blood pressure. This non-judgmental form of interaction is encouraging to people. Interacting with something from the natural environment, the environment from which we, as humans evolved, seems to have a calming effect. (In the past, I have written about the benefits of gardening for the same reason.) We are part of the natural world and it appears that interaction with that world is mentally healthy.
As we go through the process of guiding Smudge through treatment, as long as his quality of life is acceptable, we are having conversations with his oncology vet about the attachments that we feel for our animals. His take on it is:
our pets give us unconditional love and companionship in exchange for food and shelter, relatively stress-free. If they were to start complaining about their meals, wanting cell phones, or not doing their homework, they would be gone. He gets enough of that stress from his kids! Sometimes it is the simple things that we can turn to in times of stress.
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ADVOCACY
From the desk of Mary Zdanowicz, Esq
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We are frequently asked about guardianship and whether it can be used in particular circumstances to assist in caring for an individual who suffers from a serious mental illness. The table below identifies some cases in which guardianship may or may not be helpful.
But caution - this is only meant to be a quick guide. There are many other factors that must be considered before making a decision about whether guardianship should be pursued. Guardianship in Massachusetts is very complicated and an attorney should be consulted to determine if it is appropriate for your circumstances.
For more information on guardianship visit:
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With Unresolved Grief
By Pauline Boss
Dr. Pauline Boss is a well-known therapist, educator, and researcher and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. This book, published in 1999, presents her groundbreaking research and conceptualization of the topic of ambiguous loss. Ambiguous losses are those losses that are incomplete or uncertain or unrecognized. “The uncertainty makes ambiguous loss the most distressful of all losses, leading to symptoms that are not only painful but often missed or misdiagnosed…the greater the ambiguity surrounding one’s loss, the more difficult it is to master it and the greater one’s depression, anxiety, and family conflict.”
Boss describes two types of losses. First, she describes losses in which one’s loved one is physically lost but remains psychologically present. The clearest example of such a loss is soldiers who are missing in action. It is not clear if they are dead or alive. Such is also the case of people and children that are abducted. Other losses in this category include immigrants that have left a country but are unlikely to ever return to their families of origin. It also includes divorce and adolescents who leave for college. I would also include people who have faced miscarriages, stillbirth, or abortion.
The second category of ambiguous loss is those situations in which the loved one is still present but psychologically absent. The prime example of this is in families in which a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Other examples include living with someone suffering from addiction, chronic mental illness or someone who has suffered brain injury or a stroke. A further example is when a family member is preoccupied with work and is not psychologically present to the other family members.
These types of ambiguous losses cause stress and personal and family problems. For those experiencing such losses these situations are often beyond their control compounding the problems and leading to feelings of helplessness, depression, anxiety, and family dysfunction and conflict. “If the uncertainty continues, families often respond with absolutes, either acting as if the person is completely gone, or denying that anything has changed……Because ambiguous loss is a loss that goes on and on, those who experience it …become physically and emotionally exhausted from the relentless uncertainty.” Furthermore, because of the ambiguity of such losses, society often lacks the rituals and social norms for responding to such events.
Throughout the book Boss provides the elements that can bring about healing and the ability to move on and through these ambiguous and difficult losses. First and foremost is to recognize and identify the ambiguous loss and validate what is happening. It is also important to seek and provide as much clarifying information as possible. Family therapy can be a big part of facing such losses and making sure that all family members are working together in a supportive way. Other helpful strategies include reaching out to others in similar circumstances and identifying family and community supports. In the midst of such ambiguity it is also important to try to find and maintain stable connections to people and activities wherever possible.
Boss’s book is important in helping to identify these ambiguous losses which in fact can be so common and universal. The book then offers many thoughts on how to face such losses and how to realize that one is never alone in facing them. For those of you who like podcasts, Dr. Boss can be heard on the podcast “On Being” at onbeing.org (12/13/18).
Written by Dr. George Vitek, retired pediatrician who practiced for 28 years in Wilbraham, MA. Married father of four and grandfather of nine.
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W
ith winter school vacation nearly over and daylight savings time not far off, NAMIonNantucket is advertising a Family-to-Family Class to start mid-March. Our Family-to-Family Support group continues to meet one evening each month with plans to add a daytime group in April for parents of school aged children.
Our community non-profits continue to look for ways to share information and resources. The Healthy Community Collaborative meets for lunch once a month with a speaker on pertinent issues such as homelessness, elder living, mental health needs, etc. as they relate to the community. I also attend an English Language Learner Provider meeting each month that provides a liaison between the public schools and service organizations for students and families in need. Meetings such as these really shine a light on the need for diverse services in our island community from our mothers and babies to the elderly.
A pediatric health fair will be held in March at our new hospital facility, and NAMI will have a table to promote our classes and support group as well as the Mental Health Interface Helpline.
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Nantucket edition of the Primer, including Nantucket resources.
This will be available on Nantucket mid March.
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It’s winter, but we’re have a busy off-season here on Martha’s Vineyard. We participated in our first Dine-to-Donate event on January 31 at Offshore Ale. We raised close to $600. Yippee!
I went to the Martha’s Vineyard Non-Profit Collaborative Grant Writing Conference on February 11. It was a fabulous conference and a great day of meeting and connecting with other non-profits on Martha’s Vineyard. Our local Oak Bluffs Library has set up a reference system with Grantwatch. It’s a fabulous website for finding grants and applying for them. I’m eager to apply for a couple of new grants.
Our next Family-to-Family class begins Thursday, March 7. Megan Grennan and Katharine Neadow will be teaching again. With two weeks left to sign up, we only have a few spots open. It’s going to be a great session and more lives will be changed for the better.
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is hosting a Health Fair on April 6
th
. NAMI MV will be attending, along with Darkness into Vineyard Light suicide prevention and awareness group, the Crisis Intervention team, MV Community Services, and Vineyard House.
We are planning a joint pizza party with Darkness into Vineyard Light for mid-March. The Island community will be invited free of charge to celebrate life, health, spring, new beginnings, and the support of friends and neighbors.
NAMI on the Vineyard and Darkness into Vineyard Light are also planning an Island-wide Memorial Service for all Island families who have lost a loved one to suicide, overdose, or alcohol-related deaths. The service will be held on April 6 at 5 PM at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven. We will have a candlelight non-denominational service and refreshments.
Plans are underway for Mental Health Awareness Month in May. It’s going to be a great spring!
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RESEARCH WEEKLY: February Research Roundup
Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public
Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about severe mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the month
- In 84% of states, at least some parts of inpatient psychiatric hospital stays are covered for adults through Medicaid according to the new Kaiser Health News Medicaid Behavioral Health Services Database. Services less often covered for adult Medicaid beneficiaries include intensive outpatient treatment (covered in 67% of states) and assertive community treatment (covered in 65% of states).
RESEARCH of the month
- Higher scores on wisdom assessments linked with fewer psychotic symptoms and better cognitive performance in individuals with schizophrenia.
Wisdom, or the ability to make decisions based on experience and qualities such as insight and good judgement, can provide a window into a person's sense of satisfaction with life and general well-being. In measuring three different types of wisdom-cognitive, reflective, and emotional-among individuals with schizophrenia and those without, researchers found people who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia obtained lower scores compared to counterparts without the disease. However, nearly one-third of participants with schizophrenia had wisdom scores within the "normal" range. This group also displayed fewer psychotic symptoms and better performance on cognitive and functional tests compared to individuals with schizophrenia who had lower wisdom scores.
The study results may help foster a meaningful shift in how the medical community addresses severe mental illness. "We have a tendency in medicine to focus attention on remediating symptoms and impairments to the exclusion of individual strengths," says senior researcher Dr. Dilip V. Jeste, MD. "A sustained effort to assess and enhance positive traits in a person with severe mental illness, such as their levels of wisdom, happiness and resilience, might do much to improve the quality of their lives."
- Adding an antidepressant medication for individuals already taking an antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia may be effective for symptom control.
Researchers conducted a study of national Medicaid data from 2001-2010 to analyze the relative efficacy of adding additional drugs, such as an antidepressant, benzodiazepine, mood stabilizer, or another antipsychotic to an individual's treatment plan, when he or she is already being treated consistently with a single antipsychotic medication. In particular, researchers measured how each combination affected the risk of future hospitalizations, Emergency Department (ED) visits, and mortality.
Individuals who supplemented antipsychotic medication with an antidepressant were less likely to experience future hospitalization or ED visits compared to individuals who supplemented with another antipsychotic. Individuals who added a benzodiazepine were more likely to be hospitalized or visit an ED compared to those supplementing with an antipsychotic. Mood stabilizers did not produce a notable difference from antipsychotics in these categories. However, mood stabilizers were shown to increase risk of patient mortality.
- Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI shows promise for indicating symptoms of schizophrenia in the brain.
Neuromelanin is a dark pigment created within certain areas of the brain that builds up in dopamine neurons over time. As has been documented in cases of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, neuromelanin only decreases with the death of brain cells. Previously, neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI) technology had only been used to detect the loss of these brain cells in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases.
However, recent research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has, for the first time, shown the capability of NM-MRI technology to also measure relative levels of dopamine in the brain. Higher NM-MRI signals suggests higher concentrations of neuromelanin, which signifies greater release of dopamine.
Higher NM-MRI signals were also associated with more severe symptoms of psychosis in individuals with schizophrenia or those who are at risk of developing the disorder. Dopamine has long been linked with schizophrenia for its role in sensation and the motor system, and dysfunction may contribute to the disorder's characteristic hallucinations.
NM-MRI technology is less invasive than other measures of dopamine function, which could make it a more viable option for repeat use among patients to observe illness progression. NM-MRI also provides higher quality images compared to other imaging technology, allowing clinicians to observe the brain in greater detail.
Jessica Walthall
Research and Advocacy Associate
Treatment Advocacy Center
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Understanding Teen Depression Webinar
Airs live on Thursday, March 21st 7pm to 8:15pm ET.
It can be hard to tell the difference between normal teen moodiness and depression.
This spring our Teen Depression Webinar will review the symptoms of depression, communication strategies, treatment options, where to get help, and what to do if help is refused.
Register to watch live or on demand after it airs.
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NAMI CC&I EDUCATION & SUPPORT
NAMI Support Group Notes
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Please note the time change for the support group in Orleans that meets every Saturday for people managing their own mental health. The group now meets from 2:00 - 3:30 on Saturday afternoons at the Federated Church, 162 Main Street, East Orleans.
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New Support Group: For family members, caregivers and friends of those with a mental health issue. Beginning March 14th, on the second Thursday of each month, there will be a meeting at the YMCA in W. Barnstable from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Meeting in the Live Strong lounge, first floor. Let front desk know you are there for a meeting.
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New Support Group: For family members, caregivers and friends of those with a dual diagnosis. Dual diagnosis refers to individuals who have a mental health issue and a substance use disorder. Substance abuse is a barrier for treating mental health. Beginning in March, NAMI will have a support group facilitated by a retired alcohol/drug counselor-family therapist on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at the NAMI office located at 5 Mark Lane, Hyannis. 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
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All NAMI Support Groups are free, open for drop in, and confidential. Please call the NAMI office with questions or for more information at 508-778-4277.
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Here are two facts: First, when there is family involvement in the care of people with serious mental illnesses, everyone does better. Second, family involvement in mental health care does not occur in the majority of cases. According to Lisa Dixon, M.D., who is the director of the Center for Practice Innovations at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and a professor at Columbia University Medical Center, the single most important intervention for families of adults with mental illnesses is the 12-session Family to Family course offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).” MV Times: On my mind: What to do if you have a mentally ill family member? June 6, 2018. By Dr. Charles Silberstein, Psychiatrist Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Upcoming Classes
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Family to Family: To begin in April. The course will meet for 10 sessions, 2 – 4:00 p.m. on a day TBD in Yarmouth. Family to Family is an educational, as well as a supportive course to help people understand mental illness diagnosis, medications/therapies, navigating the health care system, and self -care.
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Family Connections: To begin last week in March, Barnstable, 6 – 7:30 p.m. in W. Barnstable. This 12- week course will help you to understand Borderline Personality Disorder. The course focuses on communication skills, creating boundaries, and self-care when managing a relationship with a highly emotional individual.
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Homefront: New to the state of Massachusetts and only offered on Cape Cod, Homefront is the “Family to Family” for military families. This 6-week course facilitated by peers is an opportunity for veterans and military family members to understand and respond effectively to a family member who may be suffering from a mental health issue.
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All NAMI educational programs are free and confidential. However, registration is limited and required. Please contact Kim Lemmon, Director of Family Programs for registration and information.
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A New NAMI Course for Military Families Facilitated by Veterans
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From Nami--A Discussion on the Various Types of Therapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, also known as “talk therapy,” is when a person speaks with a trained therapist in a safe and confidential environment to explore and understand feelings and behaviors and gain coping skills.
During individual talk therapy sessions, the conversation is often led by the therapist and can touch on topics such as past or current problems, experiences, thoughts, feelings or relationships experienced by the person while the therapist helps make connections and provide insight.
Studies have found individual psychotherapy to be effective at improving symptoms in a wide array of mental illnesses, making it both a popular and versatile treatment. It can also be used for families, couples or groups. Best practice for treating many mental health conditions includes a combination of medication and therapy.
Popular Types of Psychotherapy
Therapists offer many different types of psychotherapy. Some people respond better to one type of therapy than another, so a psychotherapist will take things like the nature of the problem being treated and the person’s personality into account when determining which treatment will be most effective.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on exploring relationships among a person's thoughts, feelings and behaviors. During CBT a therapist will actively work with a person to uncover unhealthy patterns of thought and how they may be causing self-destructive behaviors and beliefs. By addressing these patterns, the person and therapist can work together to develop constructive ways of thinking that will produce healthier behaviors and beliefs. For instance, CBT can help someone replace thoughts that lead to low self-esteem ("I can't do anything right") with positive expectations ("I can do this most of the time, based on my prior experiences").
The core principles of CBT are identifying negative or false beliefs and testing or restructuring them. Oftentimes someone being treated with CBT will have homework in between sessions where they practice replacing negative thoughts with with more realistic thoughts based on prior experiences or record their negative thoughts in a journal.
Studies of CBT have shown it to be an effective treatment for a wide variety of mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia. Individuals who undergo CBT show changes in brain activity, suggesting that this therapy actually improves your brain functioning as well.
Cognitive behavioral therapy has a considerable amount of scientific data supporting its use and many mental health care professionals have training in CBT, making it both effective and accessible. More are needed to meet the public health demand, however.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally developed to treat chronically suicidal individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Over time, DBT has been adapted to treat people with multiple different mental illnesses, but most people who are treated with DBT have BPD as a primary diagnosis.
DBT is heavily based on CBT with one big exception: it emphasizes validation, or accepting uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and behaviors instead of struggling with them. By having an individual come to terms with the troubling thoughts, emotions or behaviors that they struggle with, change no longer appears impossible and they can work with their therapist to create a gradual plan for recovery.
The therapist's role in DBT is to help the person find a balance between acceptance and change. They also help the person develop new skills, like coping methods and mindfulness practices, so that the person has the power to improve unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Similar to CBT, individuals undergoing DBT are usually instructed to practice these new methods of thinking and behaving as homework between sessions. Improving coping strategies is an essential aspect of successful DBT treatment.
Studies have shown DBT to be effective at producing significant and long-lasting improvement for people experiencing a mental illness. It helps decrease the frequency and severity of dangerous behaviors, uses positive reinforcement to motivate change, emphasizes the individual’s strengths and helps translate the things learned in therapy to the person’s everyday lif
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Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is used to treat PTSD. A number of studies have shown it can reduce the emotional distress resulting from traumatic memories. EMDR replaces negative emotional reactions to difficult memories with less-charged or positive reactions or beliefs. Performing a series of back and forth, repetitive eye movements for 20-30 seconds can help individuals change these emotional reactions.
Therapists refer to this protocol as "dual stimulation." During the therapy, an individual stimulates the brain with back and forth eye movements (or specific sequences of tapping or musical tones). Simultaneously, the individual stimulates memories by recalling a traumatic event. There is controversy about EMDR—and whether the benefit is from the exposure inherent in the treatment or if movement is an essential aspect of the treatment.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that is most frequently used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and phobias. During treatment, a person works with a therapist to identify the triggers of their anxiety and learn techniques to avoid performing rituals or becoming anxious when they are exposed to them. The person then confronts whatever triggers them in a controlled environment where they can safely practice implementing these strategies.
There are two methods of exposure therapy. One presents a large amount of the triggering stimulus all at once (“flooding”) and the other presents small amounts first and escalates over time (“desensitization”). Both help the person learn how to cope with what triggers their anxiety so they can apply it to their everyday life.
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nterpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy focuses on the relationships a person has with others, with a goal of improving the person’s interpersonal skills. In this form of psychotherapy, the therapist helps people evaluate their social interactions and recognize negative patterns, like social isolation or aggression, and ultimately helps them learn strategies for understanding and interacting positively with others.
Interpersonal therapy is most often used to treat depression, but may be recommended with other mental health conditions.
Mentalization-Based Therapy
Mentalization-based therapy (MBT) can bring long-term improvement to people with BPD, according to randomized clinical trials. MBT is a kind of psychotherapy that engages and exercises the important skill called mentalizing. Mentalizing refers to the intuitive process that gives us a sense of self. When people consciously perceive and understand their own inner feelings and thoughts, it’s mentalizing. People also use mentalizing to perceive the behavior of others and to speculate about their feelings and thoughts. Mentalizing thus plays an essential role in helping us connect with other people.
BPD often causes feelings described as "emptiness" or "an unstable self-image." Relationships with others tend to be unstable as well. MBT addresses this emptiness or instability by teaching skills in mentalizing. The theory behind MBT is that people with BPD have a weak ability to mentalize about their own selves, leading to weak feelings of self, over-attachment to others, and difficulty empathizing with the inner lives of other people.
In MBT, a therapist encourages a person with BPD to practice mentalizing, particularly about the current relationship with the therapist. Since people with BPD may grow attached to therapists quickly, MBT takes this attachment into account. By becoming aware of attachment feelings in a safe therapeutic context, a person with BPD can increase their ability to mentalize and learn increased empathy.
Compared to other forms of psychotherapy such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, MBT is less structured and should typically be long-term. The technique can be carried out by non-specialist mental health practitioners in individual and group settings.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
The goal of psychodynamic therapy is to recognize negative patterns of behavior and feeling that are rooted in past experiences and resolve them. This type of therapy often uses open-ended questions and free association so that people have the opportunity to discuss whatever is on their minds. The therapist then works with the person to sift through these thoughts and identify unconscious patterns of negative behavior or feelings and how they have been caused or influenced by past experiences and unresolved feelings. By bringing these associations to the person’s attention they can learn to overcome the unhelpful behaviors and feelings which they caused. Psychodynamic therapy is often useful for treating depression, anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, and other mental illnesses.
Therapy Pets
Spending time with domestic animals can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue and pain for many people. Hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities sometimes make use of this effect by offering therapy animals. Trained therapy pets accompanied by a handler can offer structured animal-assisted therapy or simply visit people to provide comfort.
Dogs are the most popular animals to work as therapy pets, though other animals can succeed as well if they are docile and respond to training. Hospitals make use of therapy pets particularly for patients with cancer, heart disease and mental health conditions. The pets that are certified to visit medical facilities meet a high standard of training and are healthy and vaccinated.
For people with a mental health condition, research has shown that time with pets reduces anxiety levels more than other recreational activities. Pets also provide a non-judgmental form of interaction that can motivate and encourage people, especially children. Veterans with PTSD have also found therapy pets helpful.
A session with a therapy pet and its handler may focus on specific goals such as learning a skill through human-animal interaction. Alternatively, simply spending time holding a therapy pet can have benefits such as lower anxiety levels. Though more research is necessary to establish why animal therapy is effective, one theory is that humans evolved to be highly aware of our natural environment, including the animals around us. The sight of a calm animal reassures us that the environment is safe, thus reducing anxiety and increasing our own feelings of calm.
Therapy animals are not the same as service animals, who receive a higher level of training and learn specific tasks for assisting one person on a long-term basis. Service animals are considered working animals, not pets. They have shown some promise in helping people with mental health conditions, particularly PTSD and panic disorder.
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Dance in the Rain
Peer to Peer Mental Heath Center
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Dance In the Rain Hours:
Monday - Thursday 10AM - 4PM
Wednesday & Thursday open to 6PM
We directly engage with on a average of 12.8 peers daily.
On a monthly basis we directly engage with over 260 peers.
Through our social media and newsletter we engage with over 1,630 individuals every month.
Located in Downtown Hyannis Minutes from the Bus Station and Main Street. Upstairs 145 Barnstable Rd. Hyannis
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Join us for our next Safe Place
group for Suicide Loss Survivors
This 6-session group will begin on
Monday, March 4, 2019
6:30-8:00 p.m. in Hyannis, MA
Participants must register to attend all 6 sessions.
For more information or to register, contact us
at 508-548-7999 or
No matter where you are in your grieving process,
you are welcome. It's time to begin healing your heart.
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The Cape and Islands Suicide Awareness Walk is a three mile loop walk in Orleans, Cape Cod, MA on Saturday, May 18, 2019 beginning at 10 am.
Registration is
online
and also available on-site the morning of the walk beginning at 8.30 am. Water and refreshments will be available for walkers. Education materials will be available before and after the walk. All walkers who raise $50 qualify for an END THE SILENCE T-shirt.
All proceeds go to three local non-profits; the Samaritans on Cape Cod and the Islands, the Cape and Islands Suicide Prevention Coalition and Sharing Kindness, Inc. to provide education and advocacy for suicide prevention.
Copyright © *2019* *Sharing Kindness*, All rights reserved.
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Families for Depression Awareness
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Depression Awareness is in the final stages of producing a new publication and we'd love to share it with you!
Introducing the
Helping Someone Living with Depression or Bipolar Disorder: A Handbook for Families and Caregivers.
This resource takes the reader through everything they need to know from diagnosis to helping someone maintain wellness. An essential read for all caregivers.
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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.
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
i
n 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!
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