NAMI Lex­ing­ton’s mis­sion is to “Pro­mote Recov­ery”.  Our expand­ed mis­sion state­ment includes that we sup­port, edu­cate and advo­cate for fam­i­ly mem­bers and those liv­ing with severe men­tal ill­ness.  That’s a com­plex mis­sion. It requires a lot of infor­ma­tion shar­ing, and com­mu­ni­ty support.

This blog will share valid, impor­tant infor­ma­tion about men­tal ill­ness, the men­tal health sys­tem — local, Com­mon­wealth and nation­al, and our own pro­grams.  It’s a more in-depth look at what we do. Whether you came across our blog via a social media tag, our web­site, a friend or fam­i­ly mem­ber, a provider’s refer­ral, or because you’ve been a long-time NAMI sup­port­er, we hope you’ll find the infor­ma­tion we share use­ful and thought-pro­vok­ing.  If you’re inspired to become a mem­ber, a vol­un­teer, a par­tic­i­pant, or a donor, even better!

Still not sure about who we are?

If you’ve been with us awhile, you’ve heard us say men­tal ill­ness isn’t a “casse­role” ill­ness. Almost no one shows up with casseroles, con­do­lences, and sup­port for you or your loved one if (s)he is diag­nosed with men­tal ill­ness. They do for can­cer, heart attacks, and oth­er ill­ness­es, but not usu­al­ly men­tal health crises.  In fact, too often we hear of peo­ple being iso­lat­ed, alien­at­ed and treat­ed poor­ly by oth­ers because they or some­one they love has shared their diag­no­sis.  NAMI Lex­ing­ton is coun­ter­ing that all-too-fre­quent response by offer­ing a help­ing hand. We don’t offer casseroles, but we do have sup­port groups, potluck gath­er­ings, and edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams designed to inform.  All of our sup­port pro­grams are free, because no one fac­ing men­tal ill­ness should be turned away from the sup­port they need. This blog isn’t an online sup­port group, but we hope to high­light the good things our groups and sup­port efforts are doing.

Our fam­i­ly edu­ca­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties help fam­i­ly mem­bers to know what they are deal­ing with. Shar­ing fac­tu­al infor­ma­tion also helps peo­ple who are liv­ing with men­tal ill­ness to under­stand what is hap­pen­ing and how they can improve.  The pub­lic at large also needs more edu­ca­tion, since for so long men­tal ill­ness was seen as a weak­ness of willpow­er, a will­ful act put on by the indi­vid­ual, or worse.  1 in 4 of us is affect­ed by men­tal ill­ness in some way; know­ing how to iden­ti­fy cri­sis symp­toms, help­ing some­one access help, and under­stand­ing there is treat­ment is cru­cial for our com­mu­ni­ty’s well­ness. This blog is going to be used as a tool to fur­ther edu­cate our com­mu­ni­ty, our mem­bers, and others.

Com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment in men­tal health has been a hot top­ic for over a cen­tu­ry. Who should have a say in care? How has care changed? What laws are help­ful and what laws are now harm­ful to cur­rent treat­ment meth­ods? Where are peo­ple “falling through the cracks?”  That’s the advo­ca­cy piece of what we do. Help­ing iden­ti­fy prob­lems and bar­ri­ers in get­ting the most ill the treat­ment they need, ensur­ing access to up-to-date ther­a­pies, and coor­di­nat­ing with oth­er com­mu­ni­ty agen­cies to close the “cracks”. Advo­ca­cy is leg­isla­tive, com­mu­ni­ty-ori­ent­ed, and even indi­vid­ual. Over time this blog will help explain our posi­tions, encour­age you to take a stand for what YOU believe in, and will attempt to keep you up-to-date on leg­isla­tive changes.

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