NAMI Presentations
A number of years ago, after writing my first book called The Bipolar Challenge; I needed to find a way to market the book. I found the organization called NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) and asked them if I could sell my book there. One of the staff there asked if I’d like to do be a speaker and do presentations. Before long I was presenting with other NAMI members at a number of places. Here’s a list of some of them: medical schools, nursing schools, high schools, colleges, police and SWAT training, hospitals and libraries. Ironically, very few people wanted to buy my books, but almost everyone was interested in hearing about my experiences.
Medical and nursing schools were very interested in the causes of mental illness such as genetics and environment while police trainings were interested in learning about how to de-escalate potential crisis situations. Individuals in hospitals were mostly interested, I think, in expressions of hope and compassion because they were usually in difficult situations.
Probably the most important question many people wanted to know was why individuals didn’t follow through with medications. I have a lot of my own experience with this problem myself, so almost always I needed to try to give people some frame of reference for my experiences. Logic and common-sense were usually not enough. In regard to the problem with medications, I’d usually describe some of society’s unwillingness to accept mental illness as genuine or needing medications. For example, someone with a broken arm naturally goes to the doctor and receives treatment. The person usually is given understanding and compassion. To make my point I sometimes mention how lonely mental illness can be. I also describe how epilepsy is a physical illness, and personally I take a medication that is almost always prescribed for epilepsy for my own bipolar disorder. (i.e. Tegretol)
In addition, I try to explain that medications sometimes have unwanted side effects like weight gain and drowsiness. However, in my case like many other individuals, I needed to hit rock bottom; so regardless of what society thought, I should take medication, if I wanted to stay safe and lead a normal life. I also talk about mental illness as having no cure, so that when I felt better, it didn’t mean I was free from the disorder. For me, rock bottom was Cook County Jail.
I often bring up in my presentations that some people never really get much better. Sometimes it’s because medications don’t work or the individuals have no support system. In addition, some simply refuse to take medications because of pride or embarrassment or because they have had past bad experiences with medications.
I can recall a number of experiences I’ve had during my presentations that have been memorable for me. Once after a police training, for example, a woman simply came up to me, gave me a big hug and then walked away. Another time, at a presentation for adolescents with a hospital, since I mentioned that I liked to sing; a teenager asked me to sing a Beatle’s song. He was simply being a wise guy.
For me, I’m always concerned about the relevancy of my experiences because times change as do attitudes. So one experience I’ve had very recently was important to me. I usually give a very brief account of my experience in Cook County Jail, and I often wondered if it was relevant today. At a hospital an individual patient there said “I don’t want to talk about it, but you are exactly right about jail.” So, my experiences forty years ago are still relevant to individuals today. This reassured me that my presentation was still relevant but also that, in some ways, nothing has changed.
I kept a record of the number of presentations I’ve done over the years, and it’s well over four hundred. Now, I do just one presentation a month with a hospital program for NAMI via Zoom. This is so much easier then traveling over an hour to do be there in-person.
I’ve also concentrated more of my time on writing and health issues. Donna and I figured out that I’ve written twenty books over the years and published many poems. Some of my books have nothing to do with mental health, but my experiences have made my mind more imaginative and spiritual. My presentations have helped boost my self-confidence as well. Nearly every group I have spoken to genuinely listen and ask great questions. I end every presentation with the following: “I’ve had so much help, from so many people, for such a long time that I’m glad to have the chance to share some of my experiences with others. Thank you for listening to my story.”
I’d like to finish today by reproducing two poems that I have shared at every presentation. The first is a poem that attempt to describe the difference in perception between the police and someone struggling with a mental illness. The second is an inspirational poem. I hope things are going well for you and thanks again for your support. See you next week!
(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)
Manic Train
My manic train of thought and sound
raced down a magic mountain.
Providence bounced up and down,
and signs were pure emotions.
As my train lurched to a stop,
I felt the throttle stall.
When I wrestled with the cops,
they saw no train at all.
Love Will Find A Way
When the battles that you fight
Are too much for you to bear.
When the tears you shed at night
Drive you deep into despair.
If the wisdom that you know,
Can’t release you from your pain.
If your troubles come and grow
Like a cold, forbidding rain.
Love will find a way.
When your hopelessness surrounds you
Like a dark invading cloud,
When your misery confounds you,
And your burdens wear you down.
Even though your heart is aching
With the agony of doubt,
Even though advice you’re taking
Is not useful to you now.
Love will find a way.
While a hundred explanations
Can’t explain the signs ahead,
While at every destination,
There are none you call a friend.
Even while your problems linger,
Even though you’ve done your best,
Even while you seek the answers,
So your weary soul can rest,
Love will find a way.
Because love has no beginning,
It has been here all along.
Because love has never ended,
Love is never really gone.
So beyond your fear and agony,
Wait on love to get you through.
Go behind the world’s uncertainty,
And then love, it will find you.
Quotes:
“A wise man speaks because he has something to say, a fool speaks because he has to say something.” -Plato
“Grasp the subject, the words will follow.” -Cato The Elder Quotes
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” -Maya Angelou
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