Hold onto the Hope: NAMI National Convention

"Hold onto the hope and keep moving forward."
Those are the closing words I remember from the last speaker this morning at the NAMI National Convention's education session. All of us in the standing-room-only ballroom were there to honor the various education and support programs that NAMI offers. Consumers, providers, family members and NAMI staffers were invited to offer their stories, and tell how programs like Family-to-Family, NAMI Basics (for families with younger children), In Our Own Voice, Peer-to-Peer and more affected our journeys.

Wow. How we all need education. How we all need each other. What a roomful of experience, knowledge, and hard-earned wisdom.

Last night there was a special session with Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), about all the new research that shows some promise - especially if it is funded and respected. Mental Illness is a tough sell, unfortunately - but it should not be.

Dr. Insel's talk was eye-opening, honest, hopeful and also a reinforcement of many issues we all blog about here:
1.mental illness is the leading cause of diability in the United States
2.proposed or planned budget cuts to state funding and Medicaid are frightening.
3.there is not enough attention paid to finding proper medical treatment for mental illness
4."Person-Centered Treatment" is essential

One idea he presented is the need for "staging" mental illness the way we divide cancers into "Stages". Yes. He reminded us that usually mental illness is not even diagnosed until psychosis, which is equivalent to "Stage 3" in cancer. It's like waiting for the heart attack to diagnose a clogged artery. If medical and research attention is paid, as has happened with cancer and heart disease, to the earlier "stages", then prevention is possible and can save heartache, crises, and lives.

The three main points Dr. Insel shared, that must be accepted to further researh and reduce stigma:
1. Mental disorders are brain disorders
2. Mental disorders are developmental disorders
3. Mental disorders result from complex genetic risk plus experiential factors.
Where is the research hope: The Human Connectome (mapping brain connections), stem cell research (with exciting new discoveries making it possible without the controversy of involving a fetus), and new emphasis on how mental illnesses develop before psychosis, with possibility of video game "brain retraining" to help before meds are needed.

At conventions like this, there is so much new information to absorb that it can be overwhelming. Some new knowledge comes in the meeting rooms, some of it from random conversations in between the "classes" - in the hallways, in the ladies' room, at the snack table. Last night was an eye-opener, and there will be more to share.
Hold onto the hope, indeed...and keep moving forward. But with new respect, collaberation, research, and - in the meantime and always - "person-centered treatment."