JSU Newswire
Jacksonville, Alabama
 

NAMI Public Forum Slated Oct. 9


August 13, 2003 -- The Jacksonville chapter of NAMI, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, will hold a public forum in Montgomery Building Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9 in observance of Mental Illness Awareness Week Oct. 5 through 11.

NAMI -- the nation’s voice on mental illness -- was founded in 1979. It is a nationwide non-profit organization with over 210,000 members. It remains a grassroots, self-help support and advocacy organization that is comprised of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders.

The Oct. 9th forum is titled, “Mental Illness and the Road Ahead – Public Policy, Police and Psychiatric Service.” The keynote speaker will be State Commissioner Kathy Sawyer from the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

Panelists: Dr. Christopher Randolph (local psychiatrist), Captain Melissa Beasley (mental health officer – Florence City Police Department), Ms. Laura A. Sutton (social worker – extensive VA experience and now employed at Mountain View Hospital in Gadsden).

NAMI serves to provide education, information, and support to family members and individuals dealing with brain disorders of severe mental illness as well as to remove the stigma affiliated with these illnesses.

This forum is an opportunity to listen, ask questions and learn more about the brain disorders of mental illness and how educators and leaders in the community can work together with other agencies to improve the life and recovery of the mentally ill.


 


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