Tag: Support Groups

Has a friend or family member told you to “snap out of it” or “get over it”?

Christina DunbarLeave a comment

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard these responses to my depression. As if it’s that easy. Anyone who tells you “You’re just having a bad day. You’ll feel better in the morning” has clearly not experienced the crippling agony and utter devastation of depression.

Thankfully, there are programs in place that help family members understand and support their loved ones with mental illness. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) and The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) run programs and support groups for family members and friends.

The Lehigh Valley DBSA holds weekly support group meetings on Wednesdays at First Presbyterian Church on Tilghman St in Allentown from 7-9 pm. Contact information can be found by clicking here.

Another resource to help friends and family members understand mental illness and support their loved ones is NAMI’s Family-to-Family program, a free 12-session educational program taught by trained family members who have been there.

If friends and family members are not able to attend support meetings or participate in programs, there are plenty of websites to guide them. I referred my husband here.

Skeletons in the Closet

Christina DunbarLeave a comment

At the last DBSA meeting, a peer shared the following advice given to him by a therapist when he was a young boy struggling with PTSD:

We all have skeletons in our closets. When we leave home, those skeletons stay in the closet. You leave them behind. But when you come home, they are still there. You may not see them, but you know they are there. At first you may just look at the closet. Maybe next time you move closer to the closet, but you still don’t open the door. Then you may touch the doorknob. The next time you might open the door and peek in. Eventually, when you are ready, you open the door, and take one skeleton out.  Deal with that one skeleton.  Once that one is handled, you move onto the next.

One skeleton at a time.