Out of psychosis comes hope
WALK BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR MENTAL HEALTH
STORY AND PHOTOS BY LAURA CANIDA
STAFF WRITER
W alkin g am ong more than 5,000
people along the Vera Katz Eastbank
Esplanade, I looked around and saw
sadness, sickness and grief. But I also
saw hope.
I am one o f th o u sa n d s w ho
participated in the NAM IW alks in
downtown Portland on M ay 19 to
support the National Alliance on Mental
Illness, or NAMI.
I saw hope that one day there will be a
cure, or at least an easier life for people
affected by mental health conditions.
For m e, I walked fo r my son and
countless other people I have met
who’ve had their lives turned upside
down because o f a m en tal h ealth
diagnosis. I walked for those that
haven’t been diagnosed yet, whose lives
haven’t been changed forever.
My life changed on Sept 15,2013, when
my husband and I came home from
vacation. We drove into our driveway
and knew right away som ething was
wrong.
M y 21-year-old son, who was a
Clackamas Community College student,
was standing with, a cardboard sign near
our house hanging from his neck that
said, “ W ill work for food.’1
At that moment, I had no idea how
much my life would change. I didn’ t
know if he was on drugs or exactly what
was going on.
I called .our local hospital and they
recommended bringing him in. When
I couldn’t get him to go with me, the
hospital sent a team of counselors
from Crisis Intervention Team to our
houSe. My son was hallucinating and
hearing voices - he thought someone
was following him while we were gone.
This was my first experience with the
Crisis Intervention Team of Clackamas
County. After a while, they convinced
him that it was okay to go to the doctor
and get checked out.
After days in the emergency room,
we were told he has schizophrenia. My
head was swirling with thoughts, I was
overwhelmed. |
A nurse asked me If I had ever heard
of NAME Why would I? I’ve never had
to deal with mental health issues like
this before.
Then I wondered, why hadn’t I heard
about it? You walk down the streets and
you see people experiencing m ental
health symptoms all the time.
Now, six years later, I know all about
NAMI, and I’m collaborating with CCC
counselor CaseySims oh reestablishing
a chapter of NAMI on campus, here in
Oregon City.
Counselor Ignacio Gonzales-Reyes
said “ NAMI is an excellent resource.
They have been on cam pus before
and I admire their com m itm ent and
dedication to advocacy for m ental
health services. The flow of students
who need therapeutic services related
to mental health needs varies greatly
from term to term .”
W hile NAM I on Cam pus w asn ’ t
available at the time my son was here,
counselors were, but he didn’t know
how to reach out. NAMI on Campus
provides education, advocacy, support
and resources that students need.
I found out about NAMI early on in the
process, and since then, NAMI has been
a part of our everyday life. The Family
to Family class NAMI offers helped us
as family deal with my son’s diagnosis
and how to move forward step by step,
day by day.
NAMI gets their funding from a few
different sources, arid one of those is
from the yearly event, the NAMIWalks,
that I participated iri. The walk helps
increase awareness, raise funds and
hopefully cure the stigma of mental
health conditions.
Mental health awareness advocate and former co-owner of Dave’s Killer Bread, Dave Dahl, left, and
Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, right, kick off the NAMI walk event.
Clackamas Print
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theclackam asprint.com
National Alliance of Mental Illness
board member Eric Blumenthal leads
the NAMI boardwalk team on May T9.
If you or som eone you know is
experiencing mental health symptoms,
please reach out to a NAMI near you.
It can help you, like me, see hope.
NAMI Clackamas is located at 10202
SE 32nd Ave, Suite 501 in Milwaukie
503- 344-5050 or visit their website
at namicc.org.
More than 5,000 attendees participated in the 5k walk
along the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade.
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Nay 29, 2019