8 · NAMI MISSISSIPPI
I
n April, we sponsored a virtual NAMI Family & Friends, a 90-minute seminar that informs people who have loved ones with a mental health condition how to best support them. The 10 participants were able to interact, ask questions, and make comments in real time. Input and feedback were very favorable. NAMI Builds Better Coping Skills This is one of our fundamental principles. Throughout the pandemic, the NAMI Oxford Affiliate has maintained its two local outreach programs: the NAMI Family-to-Family support group and the NAMI Connection support group. We have used phone conferencing provided by the State Office. What follows are heartfelt statements by some of our members about the personal impact of NAMI. Connecting in a Contactless World One of the beauties of belonging to a Connection group is that every week you are given the opportunity to revisit the many obstacles and worries the previous week may have thrown your way. Sharing your troubles with others who may be facing some of the same issues can be truly liberating. The positive presence the group as a whole has on the individual imparts a healing influence. But what happens when something disrupts the carefully-nurtured bond the group has established over time? What if the group were suddenly dissolved? Could the closeness and rapport among its members translate to another form of gathering? This kind of abrupt upheaval occurred as a result of the emergence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. What each week was a source of enthusiasm and anticipation was no more. We turned to our electronic devices to somehow maintain the little communities as before, but now at a distance. We tried our best to adapt to changed circumstances, but now at a cost. Somewhere within the phone
lines and on computer screens the whole person went missing. Eye contact, body language, a person’s physical being, all were poorly represented. Laughter that was once frequent and contagious had its power substantially lessened. We just couldn’t be our entire selves, separated as we were. Nearly two years into the pandemic, we still feel the dreary weight of this separation. So, when will the new normal finally relent and go back to normal? When can we finally free ourselves from all the constraints and again be our true selves? As for now, we carry around the burden of wait, and hope a better world awaits us. — Karsten, Co-Facilitator of the Connection Group My Take: Avenues of Comfort As I reflect back on the beginning of the pandemic and its effects on Oxford, I never dreamed I would be experiencing a stay-at-home life for many weeks that eventually moved into several months. I began to wonder if life would be normal again and had to develop avenues of comfort to sustain a positive attitude. My involvement in volunteering had ceased and I missed the community interaction with many people I appreciated seeing and spending time with each week. Fortunately, our NAMI Oxford Affiliate Support Group maintained connection on a twice a month basis via phone conference. I needed that support for my own good and I hope others in the group felt the same. I suppose I knew we were
all in the COVID thing together; thus, I didn’t feel alone and isolated. I missed the personal gathering we had in the past, but the phone conversation and support made me have the confidence that we were all surviving the crisis with our family members and friends going through the same process. It was good just to be together. I have been involved in NAMI since 2011 after a period of anxiety and depression after my husband’s death. I found a group who gave me support, not only in our meetings each month but also other times when I needed just to talk about my feelings. Thank you, NAMI, that I found you. — Carol Open Arms to Lean On and to Learn From I lived with a wife who suffered with depression all her life and I didn’t understand how depression affected a person nor how to ease the effects of it. It wasn’t until her death that I learned of NAMI. I wish I had known of NAMI before. NAMI provided me with open arms to lean on and to learn from. Through the members of NAMI, I have learned the effects of mental illness on family members. I also received support that I needed to help me learn to deal with the grief of losing my wife of more than 50 years. I have one regret and that is: I was unaware of NAMI until after my wife’s death. — Hal Submitted by Michael Danahy NAMI Oxford Affiliate President
We have elected the following officers for the year: (l.-r.) Vice President: Hal Ferguson; Secretary: Hanne Gaycken; President Michael Danahy; Treasurer: Carol Van Besien; (not pictured) Peer Representative: Clarice Ivy; Affiliate Representative to Board: Mary Harrington.
