NAMI hosting Family and Friends seminar today

Do you have a loved family member, friend, or co worker who lives with a serious mental health condition?

Severe anxiety, mood and thought disorders create numerous challenges when you are trying to connect with and/or work around a person who lives with a mental health condition. Enter National Alliance on Mental Illness and its free Family and Friends seminar. The 90-minute presentation informs and supports people who have loved ones with a mental health condition.

The program is a chance to learn about various mental illnesses, their diagnosis, treatment, and recovery process. Participants also will receive communication strategies, crisis preparation and NAMI resources. Seminar leaders will be sharing personal experience with mental health conditions in their families, which can be very helpful and comforting.

NAMI Far North, which serves Bonner and Boundary county residents, will present the program today, May 6, at the East Bonner County Library Classroom in Sandpoint from 12 noon to 1:30 pm PST. There will also be a Zoom option for online participation/viewing. Dr. Dawn Mehra and Ms. Amber Snoddy will use a peer approach, they will share their “lived” experience, to help you understand, empathize, and cope with a loved one or friend who lives with a mental health condition.

To register, go online to bit.ly/3FkSIQB and to join Zoom meeting, go online to bit.ly/3sh9yKR. The meeting ID is 817 5254 1844 and the passcode is 798585

Questions? Call 208-290-1768

Dr. Dawn Mehra, president of the local NAMI chapter, said the program is an appetizer for the more intensive FREE Family to Family program, a 10-week course which is held once or twice yearly. Starting with Family and Friends is an opening to that program, it is more in depth and the participants usually form life long bonds that are immensely supportive.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI FarNorth Idaho and dedicated volunteer members and leaders work tirelessly to raise awareness and provide essential education, advocacy and support group programs for people in our community living with mental illness and their loved ones.

Information: namifarnorth.org