I would like to start a support group for those who are living with or caring for/about a mentally ill family member.

Several people have emailed me recently, knowing I am dealing with that myself on a daily basis.

I am seeking advice on what platform to use, bearing in mind I am not very high tech. Does this purpose lend itself to a blog? A facebook page, a section in that huge forum? I would like something that can be made private so people can speak freely.

Religion needs to be discussed as well, such as the problem of people hearing voices and thinking it is god speaking to them just like he did with Joseph Smith. How do you deal with that when your family member is still Mormon? exmo? nevermo? This can be an issue.

This is not a politically active effort (like NAMI, the national family action group), but rather to share ideas and have some emotional support for one another.

Being a support or caregiver for a mentally ill person is exhausting and isolating. Please contact me (my logon name at the g spot) if you are interested in being part of this. As we say here on RfM, you are not alone.


Warmly

Kathleen

BTW Kathleen, Andrew Solomon's fabulous book, "Far From the Tree" addresses the multitude of issues surrounding schizophrenia and other conditions that families must deal with.

annagrammy,

Sorry you are in such difficult circumstances. I hope there is support in your state and you are able to take a break with respite care-givers.

Some areas have such places like Alzheimer's Cafe, where those afflicted can go for stories/piano-singing... Care-givers can socialize/network with each other, feeling less isolated.

Have you checked Yahoo groups? I wish you well during such a challenging time. (((Hugs)))

I've been through several years of that kind of caregiving - dealing with a child who heard voices, had every kind of hallucination, was paranoid, detached from reality -
and now he is doing better... emailing you directly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 07:18PM by dinah.

I've never started a group, but I think you can start a FaceBook group pretty easily. Name it and start inviting people to join.

I would join this group.

Is it opened to nevermos? If so I am in and this couldn't have come at a better time.

Count me in, too.
(How do you email directly?)

I would like to join, as well. My oldest son had Schizophrenia when he was 21 and ended up committing suiscide (sp). That was in 1985... I still feel the need to talk about it ever now and again.

My nephew is schizophrenic and hospitalized. Previously he was in prison......when he stopped taking his medications.

He has another court date soon.

It's such a difficult disease.

Thank You
KJ/AnonyMs

I sent you an email.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 10:17AM by kj.

I would say set up a facebook page or yahoo groups; Yahoo and facebook can be searchable, you can change it to "requests to join" so that it can be private.

As a side note Gay Mormon Stories has a great podcast on this subject right now. Lorena Tobon's story is so great.
http://gaymormonstories.org/

Some folks don't do Facebook for a variety of reasons. Yahoo groups maybe.

My first wife of 18 years was bipolar. It was hard.

Wishing you the best Kathleen

You might consider Yahoo groups
groups.yahoo.com

I have group there and also a Facebook group that is used to help people who are searching there to find the Yahoo group.

You can control membership and moderate every post, if you'd like. A nice feature is to selectively moderate people, including new members, until you get to know them - this also stops spammers.