July 2010
Our Area’s Voice on Mental Illness
With more than 1,100 affiliates
nationwide, NAMI is America's
largest grassroots mental health
organization dedicated to improving
the lives of individuals and families
affected by mental illness.
Inside This Issue
Message from Mimi
Road to Recovery
Advocacy
Calendar & Upcoming Events
Volunteer Possibilities
This & That
Membership Application
NAMI Columbus, P.O. Box 8581,
Columbus, GA 31908
(706) 320-3755
Email: info@NAMICols.org ~~
www.nami.org/sites/NAMIColumbusGA
Board of Directors
Mimi Marlowe, President
Kristine Walls, Vice President
Doris Keene, Secretary
Mimi Marlowe, Acting Treasurer
Sue Knight
Sue Marlowe
Linda Peters
Steve Scott
Amy Zabel
Perry Alexander, Advisor
Buddy Coiner, Advisor
David Wallace, Advisor
Georgia Crisis & Access Line
Single Point of Entry to access
mental health, addictive disease and
crisis services 24/7
1-800-715-4225
Support Education
NO Monthly Education Meeting
In July
However, we are having a get-together this month. And that event is our
2
3 Kickoff Luncheon (KOL) that will be held on Tuesday, July 27. The purpose
4 of the luncheon is to:
5 1. Bring people together to motivate and inspire them to assist in raising
6 awareness and money for the NAMIWalks;
7 2. Give information and training to make them effective at fundraising
8 for our Walk; and
3. Distribute the materials they will need to do the job.
NAMIWalks is the largest fundraiser for our affiliate. We need funds to fulfill
our mission and provide education and support to those in our community
who need it. Remember when you needed it and how you felt when you
attended Family-to-Family or Peer-to-Peer or one of our weekly support
groups. We also need money to do our outreach to those who don’t even
know about NAMI Columbus yet. There are too many who don’t know of us.
Our goal for the 2010 NAMIWalks is $40,000. That means we need a lot of
people helping to raise awareness which leads to contributions to our Walk.
What I’m asking you to do is to think about how you will contribute to our
2010 Walk. You can:
• Be a team captain and ask other people to walk and raise money for
NAMI Columbus, or
• Be a walker on someone else’s team and help raise money.
If you want to be a team captain, please mark July 27, 11:00am – 1:00pm
on your calendar. We’ll have lunch, training on how to be a team captain,
and lots and lots of fun. Let’s show all these other walk events (for cancer,
autism, alzheimers, etc.) that NAMI Columbus cares about our cause and
knows how to do it up big. To do that, WE NEED YOU!!!!!!
Please call the NAMI Columbus office (706-320-3755) or email us
(info@namicols.org) to make reservations or get more information.
~~ Mimi Marlowe
Please read “Important Membership
Information on page 7 of this newsletter.
July 2010 ~~~ Page 1 of 8 Advocacy Research
 Message from Mimi
I have belonged to a number of “membership” organizations over the last 30 years. I’m defining
membership as a group of people who get together based on a common interest. I see NAMI as a
membership organization with a common interest in mental health. For most of us, this common
interest is forced by difficult, unwanted circumstances but we are still a group with a bond.

Some of the organizations I have joined in the past were good and some were a disappointment. I
thought back to those that weren’t fulfilling to me to see what was lacking. And I’ve come up with the
answer. The organization didn’t know, or seem to care, what I wanted to get from my membership. So I’ve been thinking
about NAMI Columbus and wondering if our organization is fulfilling your expectations. I can’t come up with an answer
because I don’t know your expectations.

I could assume that we aren’t providing what you want because we seem to have such low attendance at some of our
meetings, such as our monthly education meetings. I have wondered if we are providing the guest speakers you want to
hear. But the real question might be “Do you even want to have a monthly meeting?” How will the leadership of NAMI
Columbus know what you really want if we don’t get your input?

NAMI Columbus is trying to do a lot of things but we have very few people who volunteer. We can’t continue or we’ll have
no one to provide the core signature programs…our education classes (Peer-to-Peer and Family-to-Family) and support
groups (Family Support and NAMI Connection). If we don’t have the signature programs, we won’t survive as an
organization. Then we won’t be able to fulfill our mission of helping to alleviate the suffering of those affected by mental
illness. Beyond the signature programs, what else should we provide? What do you want us to do?

We need YOU in order to answer that question. You’ll soon be receiving a survey (through email or U.S. mail) asking
some basic questions about what you want. Now, the typical response rate for an online survey is 32% and less than that
if done through the mail. I’m asking you to PLEASE spend a few minutes (less than 10) to respond to the survey. If you
do nothing else, please let us know your needs so we can meet your expectations.
2010:
~~ Mimi Marlowe, President Year of the Volunteer

Jewel Norman, Georgia MH Ombudsman

We were very fortunate to have Jewel Norman speak at our
NAMI Columbus monthly education program last month.
She took time to come from Atlanta to let us know what her
role is and also to ask us to help her. One of the first things
Ms. Norman told us is that people in Atlanta know NAMI and
that we are more powerful than we might know.
Ms. Norman said her responsibility is two-fold. She is to (1)
review with a medical team all the deaths (one is too many)
that take place in a state hospital or are connected to any
other organization having a contract with the state, and (2)
support and protect consumers to the best of her ability.
Most calls coming into her office are from parents of adult
consumers. One of the difficulties with these calls is HIPAA.
However, that shouldn’t stop us from calling.
Ms. Norman said three databases are kept by the
Ombudsman’s office. They include:
1. Calls from consumers with complaints;
2. Stays in the ER which is a serious problem in our state
because of the length of the stay; and
3. Deaths of a consumer.
We can really help Ms. Norman right now by providing
data on ER stays. She wants to know of anyone with a
mental illness or co-occurring disorder that is kept 72
hours or longer or is kept in restraints or handcuffs.
You can help by contacting the NAMI Columbus office
(706-320-3755 or info@namicols.org) with the following
information:
• Name of hospital and city
• Patient’s first name and last initial
• Admission time
• Disposition time
• Length of time waiting for a bed
• Where did the consumer went (shelter, etc.)
We will be the clearing house and forward the information
on to Ms. Norman.
Let’s help someone who is trying to do something to
change the mental health system. Here’s where we can
make a difference by giving critical information to
someone advocating for us.
~~ Mimi Marlowe

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 2 of 8 Advocacy Research

 THE TO RECOVERY
NAMI Columbus C.A.R.E.S.
RECOVERY Consumers Achieving Recovery thru Education & Support

Is Mental illness a sign of moral weakness?

Being a man, I have long held on to the popular misconception that "real men don’t get depressed" and if you do, it is a
sign of a character flaw or of being weak. The image of real men that I grew up with is something like what you would see
in a movie starring someone like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood or Sylvester Stallone, in one of their death-defying roles.
This false definition of “real manhood” states that we are always strong, resilient & able-to-conquer-all-no-matter-what;
and by all means, never depressed or suffering from a mental illnesses.

It was not long into my adolescent years before I realized that I was lacking in many of these strength attributes of
“manhood”, because I was always depressed and felt so hopeless. Unfortunately, I did not know that there was such a
thing as clinical depression, so I just thought that I was some kind of oddball. To be honest, I can’t remember a time in my
life when I was not depressed, but I learned to hide my feelings from others, especially since “big boys don’t cry!” I always
knew that I had this hole in my soul that I never seemed to be able to fill. It does not help that I am somewhat of an
introvert, and I have a hard time trusting people. I learned a long time ago that the best way to survive in this turbulent
world is to put on my best mask and to hide my true emotions from people. After all, who wants to see a real man cry in
public or talk about the fact that he thinks about dying so much because the pain of living is just too unbearable.

I tried everything in my power to get rid of the pain, whether it was something “positive” like religious dedication and
activity, or even the “negative” like sexual promiscuity or viewing pornography. But no matter what I tried, the hole was still
there and not only was it making my life miserable, but it was affecting my job performance and my relationships with
other people. The irony is that because I wore “the mask” so much (and so well) few people knew that I was suffering on
the inside. No one could see how I desperately wanted the pain inside to end and how I would have ended my own life if I
could have summoned the courage to do so. I felt like a complete and utter failure. After all, aren’t men who get
depressed morally weak? At least this was the question that I asked myself. It is not socially acceptable for us men to
express our emotions or feelings of despair; if we do so, and do so too often, we may be deemed weak or worse, a punk,
and this is really not good especially if you want to move up in the corporate world.

It has taken me a long time to realize and start to accept that struggling with a mental illness is not a sin or a sign of weak
character. If anything, it only confirms that I am human. Struggling with a mental illness does not mean I am a failure
anymore than having cancer makes someone a weakling. Thank goodness for NAMI and the work that it does in helping
to overcome the stigma of mental illness.
~~ Anonymous

NAMI is pleased to be working with the College of Psychiatric and Neurological Pharmacists to offer a new section where
Psychiatric Pharmacists write and answer questions that they experience in the course of their work with individuals with
mental illness. We will periodically be posting new questions and answers so be sure to check back frequently. Go to
http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=Ask_the_Pharmacist for more information.

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 3 of 8 Advocacy Research

Advocacy News
Things I learned (or re-learned) at NAMI
Convention 2010
Since I’ve attended four NAMI Conventions previously,
I wondered before this one if I would learn anything
new or if it would all be a re-hash of things I already
knew. The single, most important, thing that I
absorbed from this year’s convention was I fell in love
with NAMI all over again. Watching friends and
parents, members of law enforcement, elected officials
and consumers who are in recovery work to help
consumers achieve recovery and never again get
caught up in the criminal justice system was
innervating. Innervate means to cause a muscle,
organ, or other part of the body to act. NAMI has
become one big heart which is acting to help
consumers of mental health services achieve recovery
and to change the mental health system as we know
it. The theme for this year was "Reform and
Recovery: The Road from Here." That was ironic to
me as that’s what we mean by our name for the
section of the NAMI Columbus newsletter on page 3.
The Road to Recovery covers many different paths
and directions. There IS no one way that people
reach recovery. For each person, it is finding what
works best and then following that path.
Ever since the Federal Government started emptying
the mental institutions (with a promise of community
services), people have been winding up in another
institution, that of jail or prison. There are many, many
more people receiving treatment for mental illness
while incarcerated than there are in hospitals. Law
enforcement recognizes the injustice this has caused
and many have become impassioned advocates for
CIT or mental health courts in order to try to change
this practice. Law enforcement was at the NAMI
Convention working hard to teach NAMI communities
to spread the message of hope and change that CIT
and mental health courts bring. I primarily attended
CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) and/or Criminal Justice
workshops this year.
again while listening to Maj. Cochran. He related a few more
things that other CIT programs are doing that I would like to
implement here. A third workshop that I went to was creating a
“CIT for Youth” program. This is primarily a training for school
resource and DARE Program officers.
I attended another workshop called: Decriminalizing Mental
Illness: Making the Case for Justice—Reinvestment During
Difficult Economic Times. Pete Early, the author of CRAZY: A
Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness was
one of the presenters. His was the most impassioned
presentation I saw. I began crying halfway through his talk. The
statistics he quoted and examples of unfairness were
heartrending. The short piece he showed of Dade County Jail’s
mental health ward (the Forgotten Floor) was simply awful. We
saw 3 people in a 1 person cell; freezing temperatures (to keep
the prisoners “calm); doctors seeing each patient for an average
of 12-½ seconds, etc. He said, if we had these conditions in an
animal shelter, the outcry would be deafening. Mr. Early said
one other thing that made me sit up. He said diverting people
from jail is great and it’s the right thing to do. But, he added, it is
not if there’s nowhere else or not enough places to divert them
to. We need a system that diverts people to RECOVERY. Go to
Pete Early’s BLOG to learn more: www.peteearley.com.
Especially read “NAMI Changed My Life”.
I took many more notes than what I’ve written about, but there’s
only a finite amount of space in our newsletter. If you have
never attended a NAMI Convention, please, please go to next
year’s which will be held in Chicago. Going to a NAMI
Convention is the time you learn where YOU want to make a
difference. The road to in-difference is no longer acceptable.
~~Sue Marlowe

The “Godfather” of CIT, Maj. Sam Cochran (ret’d)

presented at two of the workshops I attended. He and
two NAMI Mommies from Memphis began what is now
nationally known as the Memphis Model for CIT in
1988. Since he retired, he has been devoting his time
to bringing the CIT program to every community in
America. He is a lifetime member of NAMI and was
very vocal about communities should not even think Sue & Sam (Sue Marlowe & Major Sam Cochran at
about bringing a CIT program on board unless there is the NAMI National Convention)
a NAMI there that can maintain a strong presence and
ensure fidelity to the CIT ideals. I fell in love with CIT

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 4 of 8 Advocacy Research

 Upcoming NAMI Events
July 2010 Minority MH Awareness Month August 2010
No Monthly Education Meeting 9 Mental Health Court Graduation
1-3 NAMI National Convention, Wash. DC 16 Monthly Education Program
12-16 Columbus Police Dept. CIT 23-27 Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office CIT
16-18 NAMI GA Facilitator Training, Atlanta (NAMI
Connection and Family Support Group)
27 NAMI GA Walk Kickoff Luncheon

September 2010 October 2010

9 Family-to-Family – Week 1 (Ends 11-18) 3 -9 MIAW (MI Awareness Week)
18 NAMI Georgia Walk 2010 (Atlanta) 4-8 Columbus Police Dept. CIT
19 Peer-to-Peer – Week 1 (Ends 11-21) 18 Monthly Education Program
20 Monthly Education Program 30 NAMI Cols Semi-annual Yard Sale
TBD Georgia CIT Awards Banquet

Support Groups
Every Monday night, 6:00-7:30 pm Family/Friend and NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups
Every Saturday 1:00-2:30 pm NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group
Meeting Location:
• NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups meets at The Bradley Center’s Multipurpose Room
(use 22nd Street Parking Lot)
• Family/Friend Support Group meets at the CONTACT Training Building, 1520 22nd Street

What’s coming up that we want to highlight…

• NAMI Columbus Kickoff Luncheon for NAMI Georgia Walk 2010 will be held on Tuesday, July 27, at
CONTACT. If you’re interested in being a Team Captain, come eat and learn with us. Call the NAMI
Columbus office at 706-320-3755 to make a reservation.

• Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), October 3-9, is coming up. It will be here before we know it so
we need to begin planning now. In the past we have had a Prayer Luncheon on Tuesday of this week but
didn’t have one last year. So I want us to get back to what I consider a very important function. This year
we can talk with clergy/lay leaders who attend about our Faith Outreach effort. We’ll talk more about this
next month but put Tuesday, October 5, in your calendar.

Peer Support “Warm Line” at 1-888-945-1414 (toll-free)

The Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network operates a state-funded, consumer-
directed “warm line” for anyone struggling with mental health issues, 24 hours a day.

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 5 of 8 Advocacy Research

 We’re working diligently on matching NAMI Columbus needs to the
interests of our volunteers. If you’re looking for new opportunities, come
to this page each month. Think about it! What are you passionate about?
What are you interested in? How can you connect to NAMI Columbus?
What opportunities does NAMI Columbus have that would fulfill your need
to give back to the organization that helped you in your time of crisis? If
you see something that interests you, please contact us (706-320-3755
info@NAMICols.org).

Current NAMI Columbus Volunteer Opportunities

We’re looking for a few good men, or women, to help us in the following areas:
Mental Health Court NAMI representative: NAMI Columbus has supported the MHC since its inception. One way we
do this is by having two NAMI representatives attend each court session to talk with people in the program and their family
members about our support groups and education programs.
• Each court session lasts approximately two hours (1:00-3:00pm) on the first and third Friday of the month.
• The major responsibility of a rep is to talk to people about NAMI and encourage them to attend a support group
meeting (NAMI Connection for consumers or the family support group). A flyer is available to hand out.
• Someone experienced will go with you at the beginning so you can see what this is all about.
• All we need is YOU!

CIT Chef: We have a CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training class almost every month from now until the end of the year.
Sue has added a Lunch with a Consumer to our program and you can help. We feed the trainees while they listen to a
consumer tell his/her story. It’s amazing the impact this has on the trainees’ understanding of and empathy for those
affected by mental illness. Please call 706-320-3755 if you want to come cook for the cause!

NAMI Columbus Greeter: We want people to have a good experience when they come to a NAMI education meeting.
Do you like people and want to make them comfortable when they come to our monthly meetings? The NAMI Columbus
Hospitality Committee could use you as a Greeter. You would be one of two people and your responsibilities would
include:
• Warmly greeting people as they arrive (wearing one of those famous NAMI smiles).
• Asking each person to sign in.
• Connecting new people to NAMI members who can help them become comfortable at our meeting.

SPECIAL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Two of NAMI’s signature programs are the NAMI Connection and NAMI Family Support groups. Many of our
newest members come to us as a result of these well-facilitated groups. We have some facilitators who have
generously volunteered their time for several years. Now it’s time to bring in some new people and let others
have a little rest.

NAMI Connection Facilitators are individuals living with mental illnesses and are at a point in recovery where they
want to "give back" to others. They attend an intense training designed to help them develop the skills they need
to facilitate a NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group.

As a facilitator, you’ll be well-trained and follow a model that makes it easy (most of the time) to facilitate a
support group. A training class for both the family and NAMI Connection group is scheduled for July 16-18.
NAMI Georgia will pay for your hotel and food. If you have an interest in helping NAMI Columbus and think this
might be something you would like to do, please contact the office (706-320-3755) and we can discuss it in
further detail.

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 6 of 8 Advocacy Research

 THIS AND THAT
• Cleaning out your house and donating items
to NAMI Columbus for our October 30, 2010
yard sale. If you have unwanted items and can’t
keep them until October (particularly furniture), please
call the NAMI Columbus office (706-320-3755) to
make arrangements. We’ve already received some
items. Thank you.
• Using Goodsearch.com as your search
engine. A lot of people ask what Goodsearch is and
I tell them what it is and why we want to use it. It
helps us make money for our affiliate every time
someone uses this search engine. And you can buy
things online with a percentage of the money coming
back to NAMI Columbus. Help us make money the
easy way.
CIT Graduates, June 18, 2010
• Gisela Poesing for your tireless dedication as a NAMI
Columbus volunteer. In addition to being a teacher for
Family-to-Family, she also works tirelessly at our semi-
annual yard sales. In 2010, Gisela became a greeter at
our monthly education meetings and does a terrific job
of welcoming people to our program meetings.
• Donna Cassell for all your support to NAMI Columbus.
In addition to letting us use CONTACT for our monthly
education and family support group meetings, Donna
has the distinction of having served two home-cooked
meals at every CIT class NAMI Columbus has hosted
in 2010. Way to go!!!
Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 7 of 8
What are they smiling about?
Dan Hagaman, NAMI GA President with Mimi &
Sue Marlowe at the NAMI National Convention.
Important Membership Information
• Membership Directory. We are preparing to print
another NAMI Columbus phone directory this month
and we publish the name and telephone number of all
our members. If you do not want to have your
name/number included in the directory (which goes to
members only), please call the NAMI Columbus office
(706-320-3755) and let us know before July 15, 2010.
• NAMI Columbus Dues. Thank you if you have
already renewed your dues for NAMI Columbus. Be
looking in your email inbox/mail box as we’ll be
sending our renewal notices soon. If you know your
expiration date and haven’t renewed yet, please use
the form on page 8 and mail it to us.
Have You Heard…
• Shon Ellis, a new member of NAMI
Columbus, has agreed to chair our
2010 NAMIWalks Kickoff Luncheon being held on July
27. She is working with Mimi Marlowe to learn about
NAMIWalks and is excited about the possibilities for the
luncheon and for the September 18 Walk.
• Next year’s NAMI National Convention will be in
Chicago, July 6 – 9. If you’ve never been to one of
these events, you’re really missing something. Start
saving your pennies now so we can have a lot of NAMI
Columbus folks attending in 2011.
• Jean Dervan, Program Director for NAMI Georgia, won
the NAMI National Peer-to-Peer Distinguished Award
for tripling the number of classes held in 2009 over
2008.
Advocacy Research
Columbus P.O. Box 8581, Columbus, GA 31908, (706) 320-3755
The Area’s Voice on Mental Illness

I want to support NAMI Columbus
Please Cut and Mail

and NAMI’s mission.
NAMI National, NAMI Georgia and NAMI
Columbus are dedicated to eradicating stigma and
Name improving the lives of persons with mental
illnesses thereby also benefiting their friends,
Address family and community. Catch the wave and be a
part of change.

City State Zip NAMI Columbus is a 501(c)(3) non-profit

charitable organization. Dues and donations are
tax deductible. Your membership includes a
Phone Numbers
subscription to our monthly newsletter,
membership directory, and access to immediate
E-Mail (Please include so we can be green and email you news on advocacy, treatment and support issues
our monthly newsletter.) from our national, state and local organizations.

Please check type of membership desired:

 Do not include my name in the NAMI Columbus phone Please make checks payable to:
directory (for members only) NAMI Columbus
 Individual Membership $30 Dues P.O. Box 8581
 Professional Membership $50 Dues Columbus, Georgia 31908
(Individual and Professional Dues are for one year
and are tax deductible.) You can also join safely online at www.nami.org/join
 $3 Open Door Membership (low income) ($35.00 by credit card).
 I am not joining at this time, but I would like to make a
contribution of $ ______________. (Thank you!!!)

Support Education July 2010 ~~~ Page 8 of 8 Advocacy Research