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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Class helps families caring for mentally ill Relatives and caregivers can gain a new understanding. By Sharon Salyer Herald Writer Families with a loved one diagnosed with serious mental illness often think they'll receive the same attention, support and help as someone diagnosed with a serious medical disease. "That is simply not the case," said Joyce Burland of Santa Fe, N.M., a clinical psychologist and national director of the education, training and peer support center for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Her experience of having a sister and a daughter diagnosed with schizophrenia led her to develop a free, 12-week course to help families with a loved one battling serious mental illness. The course, called Family to Family, will be offered in Everett beginning next month. Classes begin on Feb. 19 at Central Lutheran Church in Everett. A maximum of 25 people can register for the classes. Since it was first offered in 1991, more than 150,000 people across the U.S. have enrolled in the course. Course material is being translated into Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish. Families with a loved one with serious mental illness are often trying to take care of somebody who is seriously ill in a way they can't understand, Burland said. And in about half of all cases, the person with severe mental illness cannot explain what it is they're experiencing. "They don't know they're ill," Burland said. "It's quite hard to describe, to see someone you love become psychotic," she said. "How do you deal with the fact that you don't understand their illness or the fact that they don't want to take their medication?" Family members often feel powerless to help their loved one, said Jim Bloss, who heads the Snohomish County Chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness, which is sponsoring the class. "You don't know where to go and what to do," he said. The course the chapter is offering is designed to help families understand these issues, better communicate with their family member and learn about what medications are available for mental health problems such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Mental illness often is an illness of the young, Burland said, most commonly affecting people between the ages of 17 and 25. About one in four families will have a family member with a mental illness serious enough to need professional treatment, she said. "We know the earlier you get into treatment, the less serious your illness will become," she said. Family members cannot have empathy for their loved one without some understanding of the illness, Burland said. Mentally ill patients also need family members to understand that available medications can have difficult side effects and can be tough to take, she said. The course also teaches family members how to advocate for better treatment of the mentally ill, she said. The emotional shock of having a family member diagnosed with severe mental illness sometimes leaves them questioning whether their loved one can recover. Learning that many patients do recover gives families a vision of hope, Burland said. "The myth is … there's nothing you can do." Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com. Family to Family A series of 12 free weekly classes to help family members and other caregivers understand and support people with serious mental illness begins on Feb. 19 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church, 2702 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. Registration is required. Call 425-379-7067.

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