Conference at Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church Kicks Off Mental Illness Awareness Week in Mercer County

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by the Mercer County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

NAMI Mercer launched this year’s Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) with its third annual “Harvest of Hope” wellness conference on Oct.1. More than 150 mental health consumers and their families attended the event at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, where they focused on the theme of “Pathways to Wellness.”

MIAW, established by Congress in 1990, takes place during the first week of October. The observance provides an opportunity to learn more about serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

The conference’s keynote address, “Unwrapping the Gifts of Recovery,” was delivered by Carol Kivler, CSP, MS, a member of the NAMI Mercer Board. Kivler is president of Kivler Communications, a corporate training and executive coaching firm. Its Courageous Recovery Division reaches out to healthcare professionals, consumers, and family members with a message of hope.

Following the plenary session, there were fourteen workshops on wellness themes. The event closed with a joyful, inspiring HealthRhythms drumming circle, led by Mauri Tyler, a recreation therapist who is the program director for Princeton Senior Resource Center.

“Many people in our community are directly affected by mental illness,” said Sally Osmer, executive director of NAMI Mercer. Mental illnesses are medical illnesses. One in four adults experiences a mental health problem in any given year; one in 17 suffers from a serious, chronic illness.

“The good news is that treatment does work and recovery is possible.” Unfortunately, one-third of diagnosed adults and less than one-half of children receive treatment.

“The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that stigma is a major barrier to people seeking help when they need it,” Osmer said. “That’s why MIAW is so important. We want people to understand mental illness and join a dialogue in our community. The more people know, the better they can help themselves or help their loved ones get the help and support they need.”

When mental health care isn’t available in a community, the results often are lost jobs and careers, broken families, more homelessness, more welfare and much more expensive costs for hospital emergency rooms, nursing homes, schools, police, and even courts, jails, and prisons. NAMI Mercer provides a weekday helpline as well as support groups for mental health consumers and their families. NAMI also offers many educational and outreach programs. Its advocacy programs work for policy and legislative changes to improve the treatment for people with mental illness.

To learn more about NAMI Mercer’s programs of education, advocacy, outreach, and mutual support, see www.namimercer.org.