NAMI presentation
Hope for individuals with mental illness
Kelsey Van Dyke
Issue date: 11/30/09 Section: Life
Steve Bell and Debbie Hoffman are two proud parents. Both have held respectable jobs in the community and both have been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. On Nov. 4, they told of their experiences during a presentation from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for faculty and students.
The purpose of NAMI presentation "In Our Own Voice: Living with Mental Illness" is to give individuals recovering from mental disorders the opportunity to tell their stories and to change the negative stereotype that is often placed on them. It provides those suffering from the disorders to see how others in similar situations cope and survive.
Hoffman is one of 57.7 million adults diagnosed with a cognitive disorder in America each year and diagnosed with traumatic stress disorder, major depression and/or bi-polar disorder.
Hoffman said that every person has times where they forget things and can't find their car keys, but living with her cognitive disorder was like wondering were the car keys are times 100.
Hoffman's adoptive family, like many, didn't know a lot about the disorders. They disowned her for 20 years. This was difficult for her because she was close to them. She has experienced disownment, getting a divorce and losing her son.
"My husband and I were together 10 years. I was very good mother I did cooking, gardening, home school and housekeeping," Hoffman said.
About 70 percent of men and women with a cognitive disorder will have their children taken away if they go to court during a divorce.
"My child got taken completely from me, and at that point I was on disability," Hoffman said. "The judge was hard on me. He made me pay child support--everything, medical, dental, school supplies. I did, all through those years until my son was 18, because I loved him and he was my life."
Today Hoffman has learned to accept her disorders. Her relationship with her family is once again good. She is in the 4 percent of people who cannot take medication because the side effects can include going into shock. To help with her disorder, she remains positive, tries to incorporate humor into her life and makes tangible goals for herself. She encourages others to not give up, feeling that it may take work, but they can regain stability.
The purpose of NAMI presentation "In Our Own Voice: Living with Mental Illness" is to give individuals recovering from mental disorders the opportunity to tell their stories and to change the negative stereotype that is often placed on them. It provides those suffering from the disorders to see how others in similar situations cope and survive.
Hoffman is one of 57.7 million adults diagnosed with a cognitive disorder in America each year and diagnosed with traumatic stress disorder, major depression and/or bi-polar disorder.
Hoffman said that every person has times where they forget things and can't find their car keys, but living with her cognitive disorder was like wondering were the car keys are times 100.
Hoffman's adoptive family, like many, didn't know a lot about the disorders. They disowned her for 20 years. This was difficult for her because she was close to them. She has experienced disownment, getting a divorce and losing her son.
"My husband and I were together 10 years. I was very good mother I did cooking, gardening, home school and housekeeping," Hoffman said.
About 70 percent of men and women with a cognitive disorder will have their children taken away if they go to court during a divorce.
"My child got taken completely from me, and at that point I was on disability," Hoffman said. "The judge was hard on me. He made me pay child support--everything, medical, dental, school supplies. I did, all through those years until my son was 18, because I loved him and he was my life."
Today Hoffman has learned to accept her disorders. Her relationship with her family is once again good. She is in the 4 percent of people who cannot take medication because the side effects can include going into shock. To help with her disorder, she remains positive, tries to incorporate humor into her life and makes tangible goals for herself. She encourages others to not give up, feeling that it may take work, but they can regain stability.
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