NAMI Launches New Recovery Support Group Program

Imagine having a safe and casual place to go each week where you can talk to other people who live with mental illness. Imagine a place where you can share your challenges with people who encourage you, give you ideas, and share strategies to support your own recovery. How would your life be different? How would this opportunity enhance your recovery?

NAMI has launched such an opportunity with NAMI Connection, a new, free recovery support group program for adults with mental illness. Read more...

CANVAS: Sailing Forward, Three Dramas in One

Three dramas are playing out that may make history in the campaign to overcome stigma and achieve broad public education about the experience of ordinary families in confronting mental illness.

One drama is straight out of Hollywood--the movie CANVAS, an independent film that will be released in October 2007. The other two dramas involve the grassroots efforts of NAMI and others to bring this movie to theaters, and the passionate leadership of one of its stars, Joe Pantoliano, to raise awareness of mental illness in the entertainment industry. Read more...

Neuroscience and the Brain 

How is it that a little girl can lead a mostly normal life after half of her brain is removed? Why does high anxiety lower our ability to be creative? Do people actually do better with complex decisions when they don't think too much about them? Is it possible for humans to remain constantly happy?

These are just some of the topics covered in an engaging presentation about the science behind our amazing brains by psychiatrist and professor Manfred Spitzer at the 2007 NAMI Convention. Read more and listen online...

Breaking New Ground

The 2007 NAMI Convention hosted the first events and sessions focused on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) issues in mental health ever held at a NAMI national gathering. For many, this symbolized a great stride forward for NAMI becoming a truly inclusive organization of all who experience mental illness. Read more...

Scientific Research: New Tools, New Vision 

There is good news and bad news.

The bad news is that unlike much of the rest of medicine, the prevalence of mental illness has not decreased in recent times, and mortality has not decreased for any mental illness, Thomas Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) told NAMI's national convention.

"The good news is that I feel very strongly that that is all about to change," Insel said. "And it's going to change very quickly because of a different vision and different tools." Read more and listen online...