NAMI launches new schizophrenia website and brochure

An article posted on April 1st by News-Medical.net:

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched a new website on schizophrenia and published a new brochure on the medical condition which affects more than 2.4 million American adults each year.

Onset of schizophrenia often strikes men in their late teens or early twenties, while appearing in women in their late twenties or early thirties. The cause and course of treatment are different for each individual.

"NAMI has launched the new schizophrenia website and published the new schizophrenia brochure to provide up-to-date information to individuals, families and others," said NAMI Executive Director Michael Fitzpatrick.

"Everyone should know the nature of schizophrenia and its symptoms. Everyone should know the latest medical thinking on prevention, triggers and treatment."

The schizophrenia brochure can be downloaded from the website at www.nami.org/schizophrenia or ordered in packets of 25 copies each for local groups, physician offices, health fairs, conferences or workplace education.

The website highlights two areas of recent research relating to onset of schizophrenia:

• "Fish oil" supplements may help prevent psychosis during critical years of brain development. Further studies are needed, but NAMI Medical Director Ken Duckworth advises individuals in their teens or twenties with early symptoms of psychosis to take Omega-3 fatty acids—available in supermarkets and pharmacies. There appear to be few risks compared to the potential benefit.

• Smoking marijuana is increasingly seen as a causal factor that can trigger onset of schizophrenia in some people. NAMI cites three studies published in February and March 2011. As an environmental factor, marijuana is believed to "trigger" genetic factors, increasing the risk of psychotic incidents and ongoing experiences.

The schizophrenia web site includes discussion of anosognosia, more commonly known as a lack of insight. Individuals may lack awareness of their own illness—believed to be the result of problems with neurological processes in the frontal lobe of the brain. The condition can lead to tension within families and complicate treatment.

NAMI offers education and support programs to individuals and families confronting schizophrenia.

SOURCE: National Alliance on Mental Illness

NAMI Applauds New Report on Caregiving

A December 17th news release from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

Arlington, VA — The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) praises a new report, Caregiving in the U.S. 2009, which offers a revealing portrait of the nearly one-in-three American adults who serve as a family caregiver.

The study is based on interviews with 1,480 caregivers chosen at random and offers a national profile of people caring for adults, the elderly and children with special needs. It follows similar studies conducted in 2004 and 1997, but for the first time, caregivers for children, as well as those caring for adults over the age of 18, were surveyed.

The report echoes the findings of NAMI’s own depression survey and schizophrenia survey, which include the perspective of caregivers for people living with these serious mental illnesses. All these reports suggest that caregivers face daily stresses that can impact their own health and other relationships. For example, NAMI’s depression survey, released in November, found that while almost one-half (48 percent) of caregivers for people with depression have been diagnosed with depression themselves, only about 25 percent were engaged in treatment at the time of the survey.

“We know from our own studies that caregivers make significant sacrifices to care for their loved ones living with mental illness,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, NAMI executive director. “The findings of this new report will help us anticipate the needs of caregivers so that we can improve NAMI’s education and support programs.”

NAMI offers a variety of peer education and support programs, including those specifically for caregivers.

Family-to-Family is a free, twelve-week course for family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illnesses. The course is taught by trained family members and more than 115,000 family members have graduated from this national program. The course is also available in Spanish.

NAMI Basics is an education program for parents and other caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illnesses. The course is taught by trained teachers who are the parent or other caregivers of individuals who developed the symptoms of mental illness prior to the age of 13 years.


About NAMI:

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is a non-partisan organization with 1100 state and local affiliates, dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. Dedication, steadfast commitment and unceasing belief in NAMI's mission by grassroots advocates have produced profound changes.

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