National Alliance On Mental Illness Research Articles

NAMI Family-to-Family Program Focuses on Family Caregiver Needs

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Family-to-Family Program now being offered at Ontario Shores in virtual format, including how and where it was designed, its duration, the class topics, and how it helps family caregivers. Participant testimonials are shared in the article as well as how to register for the course for those interested in taking it.

Precision medicine raised as way to tailor MH treatment

Although medication treatment for some people with mental illness can be very helpful, for many people, it is not, either in terms of its ability to sufficiently improve patients' quality of life, or its long‐term treatment efficacy, suggested the director of the Center for Precision Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital during a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) webinar on precision medicine.

NAMI and AFSP celebrate launch of bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) applaud the Oct. 17 creation of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus in the U.S. Senate, a NAMI news release stated. Founded by Senators Alex Padilla (CA), Thom Tillis (NC), Joni Ernst (IA) and Tina Smith (MN), the caucus will work to find bipartisan, common‐sense solutions to address our nation's ongoing mental health crisis. “Mental health is the bipartisan issue of our time, and it is inspiring to see the establishment of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus,” said NAMI Chief Executive Officer Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “NAMI is grateful to Senators Padilla, Tillis, Ernst and Smith for their leadership on mental health. We're excited to collaborate with the new caucus to build better lives for all people affected by mental health conditions.”

Kohl's donates $6M to NAMI to increase MH services, resources

Kohl's Corporation announced last week a $6 million donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to help expand mental health support groups, programming and resources for individuals across the country, with a focus on reaching BIPOC communities, the press release news agency, Business Wire, reported on Aug. 15.

Maryland partnership uses free app to address youth MH needs

A collaboration between the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Maryland and Uneo Health — a community health care provider — aims to address the mental health care needs of youth in Maryland via a free app that provides self‐care and community connections.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Citing a partnership to encourage mental health awareness, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Feb. 27 that the company will partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to launch Sinclair Cares: Mental Health Support + Hope, a campaign to encourage mental health awareness, with a focus on young adults. The campaign will begin on March 6 and run throughout the month, the news release distribution group, Business Wire, reported. Sinclair Cares: Mental Health Support + Hope will be supported through public service campaigns across Sinclair's television stations and the Tennis Channel network. Sinclair's daily news show, The National Desk, and the broadcaster's local content centers, in partnership with NAMI, will produce content to air within stations’ newscasts, while also helping to connect viewers with local NAMI affiliates for resources and information. Sinclair stations will feature interviews with NAMI Chief Medical Officer Ken Duckworth, M.D., author of “You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health — With Advice from Experts and Wisdom from Real People and Families.”

He Who Has Hope, Has Everything.

He Who Has Hope, Has Everything.

A parish-based multilevel cluster randomized controlled trial to reduce stigma and mental health treatment disparities among Latino communities

Latino communities within the U.S. are disproportionately affected by persistent, high levels of untreated mental illness. Limited mental health literacy, stigma, and cultural factors are major contributors to Latino mental health treatment disparities. Although Latino individuals may be reluctant to seek out mental health professionals, they often rely on religious congregations when confronted with mental illness. However, religious congregations report major obstacles to collaborating with the mental health sector including the lack of mental health training, staffing, and resources. Strategic partnerships between religious congregations and community-based organizations can be leveraged to target sources of Latino mental health treatment disparities. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization, has developed a host of programs tailored to the different needs and segments of the community affected by mental illness, including programs designed to address culturally diverse and faith-based communities. This cluster-randomized controlled trial leverages the collective resources of NAMI and the Diocese of San Bernardino to deliver and evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-level, parish-based, intervention to decrease stigma, increase mental health literacy, and improve access to mental health services among Latino parishioners. This study will enroll 1400 participants from 14 parishes that will be randomly assigned to receive the intervention immediately or a wait-list control condition. The intervention could enrich awareness of mental health issues, shape norms about mental illness, facilitate treatment access, and add support from religious congregations to target Latino mental health disparities using culturally and faith-based tailored approaches.

Physical symptoms as psychiatric manifestations in medical spaces: A qualitative study.

Mental health and physical health issues frequently co-occur, but the impact of the psychological wellbeing on the body's physical functioning remains poorly understood within medical spaces. Individuals living with psychiatric diagnoses in particular are at an increased risk for developing chronic health issues and may be especially disadvantaged by healthcare systems which treat the mind and body as separate entities. We used secondary analysis (SA) to analyze 30 semi-structured interviews of individuals living with a serious mental illness or reflecting on a family member living with a serious mental illness. We deliberately sampled participants who reflected on salient experiences with co-occurring physical and mental health symptoms. All participants were associated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. We coded interviews using qualitative thematic analysis with an interpretative phenomenological framework centered on participants' subjective experiences. Our analyses uncovered physical health challenges which often occur in individuals living with a psychiatric illness, emphasizing the bidirectionality of mental and physical symptoms. We identified three overarching domains: (i) manifestations, in which participants reflected on how their body responded physically to mental states; (ii) medical management, in which they discussed challenging experiences seeking medical treatment for physical symptoms while living with a mental health condition; and (iii) disjointedness, in which they reflected on challenges in navigating poorly coordinated mental and physical healthcare systems. Participants and their medical providers struggled to incorporate mental wellbeing and its impact on physical health into overall healthcare. Given common experiences with misdiagnoses, difficulties navigating health care, and significantly delayed treatment, medical spaces may be able to improve patient experiences and satisfaction by accounting for psychological influences on health outcomes. Greater integration of physical and mental health care in medical spaces could improve health outcomes and reduce challenges for patients seeking treatment.

After 988’s Launch, Experts Emphasize More Work Needed

After 988’s Launch, Experts Emphasize More Work Needed

Bipolar disorder traits: An electroencephalogram systematic review

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a serious mental disorder that globally affected 40 million people in 2019. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the present state of scientific knowledge only permits psychiatrists to diagnose BD using subjective and imprecise questionnaires. Therefore, developing a diagnostic tool with objective and precise biomarkers should be a major focus of research in this field. Among the potential biomarkers for BD, electroencephalogram (EEG)-based signatures of BD are considered to be the most optimal marker due to their strong links with behavioural symptoms and also their non-invasiveness. The goal of this review is to give a detailed summary of current techniques for investigating the traces of BD through EEG abnormalities. In this review, 13 studies from databases such as ScienceDirect and PubMed seeking to utilize EEG characteristics to diagnose BD were selected. The search keywords were “EEG in BD diagnosis”, “EEG microstates in BD”, and “EEG features for BD patients”. The publication date was set from 2007 to 2021. From these studies, we synthesize the effects of BD on each EEG feature, as well as detail the pros and cons when using each feature as a biomarker for BD. Results showed that EEG microstates demonstrate their potential among the seven EEG properties discussed in this article, as shown by several studies. By definition, EEG microstates are a dynamic representation of the spatial distribution of the scalp's electric potential as it varies over time. Specifically, four microstate classes recorded in different brain regions are classified into A (right-frontal left-posterior), B (left-frontal right-posterior), C (midline frontal-occipital), and D (midline frontal topographies). Greater presence of microstate class B in BD patients during task-free resting states are a distinctive characteristic of BD patients from which BD can be differentiated from other psychiatric illnesses. Besides microstates, EEG resting states are also considered to have a bright future in BD diagnosis. Specifically, by investigating brain frequency bands, researchers have discovered that BD patients exhibit abnormal delta and alpha signals as compared to healthy controls (HCs). The abnormalities of microstate B in EEG microstate characteristics would be the most promising biomarker for detecting BD. In addition, anomalies in delta and alpha signals during resting EEG states are possible BD diagnostic indicators.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Miraval Resorts & Spas, a global leader for wellness destinations is continuing its collaboration with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Business Wire reported Oct. 3. As the two organizations continue to team up, Miraval Resorts and NAMI are set to develop information and programs designed to help care for Miraval colleagues so they may consciously explore the connections of body, mind, and spirit, and embrace the present moment both in and out of the workplace. This marks the second year of the Miraval and NAMI collaboration, following the 2021 launch of guest and colleague events between the two organizations, including a multi‐part video series of soundscapes and meditations hosted on NAMI's Hearts+Minds website. Hearts+Minds was created to raise awareness of the impact that physical health has on our mental health, and vice versa. The program provides a variety of resources accessible to NAMI's worldwide audience that promote the importance of holistic well‐being through caring for one's mental health, just as one cares for their physical health.

NAMI releases virtual MH education program for teens

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on June 1 announced that its free, signature education program for middle school and high school‐aged students, NAMI Ending the Silence, is now available on a virtual platform that can be used anywhere, officials stated.

Testing the Impact of a Peer-Delivered Family Support Program: A Randomized Clinical Effectiveness Trial.

The effectiveness of NAMI Basics, a peer-led family support program for caregivers of children with mental health concerns, was tested in a sample of caregivers referred to five National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) affiliates in a large southwestern state. Caregivers of children with mental health concerns (N=111; 69% biological mothers, 45% Hispanic/Latinx, 33% Caucasian, and 12% African American) were randomly assigned to a six-class NAMI Basics course led by peer parents or an 8-week waitlist condition. At baseline and 8 weeks after the course began, all caregivers completed measures assessing services engagement and activation, attitudes toward mental health services, parenting stress, and youth symptoms. Data were analyzed by using linear regression. Compared with caregivers in the waitlist condition, NAMI Basics participants reported significant increases in parent engagement and activation, as well as intentions to engage with mental health services. NAMI Basics participants also reported significant decreases in their child's intrapersonal and interpersonal distress, compared with those in the waitlist group. No significant differences were noted on measures of parenting stress, attitudes toward mental health services, or stigma. NAMI Basics affected caregiver outcomes and youth symptoms, as measured by caregiver report, compared with a waitlist control group. Peer-led services, such as NAMI Basics, may increase engagement with effective mental health services for youths and families.

Spokane, Washington, mayor proposes mental health task force

Spokane, Washington, Mayor Nadine Woodward plans to lead the formation of a regional task force on mental health in 2022. The task force would aim to identify gaps and weaknesses in mental health care and build a regional consensus on what Spokane needs — and approach state leaders for funding to help fill those voids, The Spokesman‐Review reported Nov. 30. Woodward imagines that this task force would include elected leaders from across Spokane County, but also those with experience working in behavioral and mental health. Demand for mental health services has spiked during the pandemic, and locally it has laid bare the gaps and existing components in need of further support. In its most recent forecast of behavioral health impacts related to the pandemic last month, the Department of Health described a confluence of factors that could strain people's mental health heading into the winter, including the uncertainty around new COVID‐19 variants and returning to work in person. Leaders and advocates in behavioral health organizations welcomed Woodward's calls for collaboration. Chauntelle Lieske, who stepped into the role of executive director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Spokane this summer, stated, “This is such a huge system and touches so many different areas, that it seems like a task force would be a good idea to get people at the table.”

Most Americans unaware of looming 988 suicide prevention, MH crisis hotline

In about eight months, a new national three‐digit number to connect individuals to suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors is set to launch, yet a staggering 80% of Americans have never heard about this number. A mere 1% are familiar with it, according to new survey results released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

NAMI celebrates Mental Illness Awareness Week

Last week, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and participants across the country advocated for better access to quality mental health care in observance of Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) Oct. 3–9. Since 1990, when Congress officially established MIAW for the first full week of October, advocates have worked together to sponsor activities, large and small, to educate the public about mental illness, an Oct. 4 NAMI news release stated. NAMI highlighted its “Together for Mental Health” campaign, which focuses on the importance of improving the mental health care system, advocates stated in the release. Each day throughout the week, NAMI continued to spread awareness about some of the most common barriers to mental health care people with mental illness face. “Over the pandemic, our movement has grown stronger by the day,” said Daniel H. Gillison Jr., NAMI CEO. “We may be at an inflection point of mainstream acceptance that anyone can be vulnerable to mental health concerns. As a society, we have become more open to discussing mental health and providing support for each other.”

Cost, access major barriers for people with mood disorders

While most adults understand that mood disorders have significant economic and social impacts when left untreated, access and cost are still major barriers to treatment. This is particularly true for those who do not have insurance and who come from low‐income households, as they are more likely to struggle with access, according to results of a new survey released Aug. 24 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

NAMI, The Steve Fund partner on improving MH of Black families

Reducing the stigma around mental health in communities of color by leading a national dialogue on the importance of promoting mental health and emotional well‐being and treating mental illness is one of the key goals announced last month by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and The Steve Fund — a go‐to resource dedicated to the mental health and emotional well‐being of students of color.

Study assesses experiences of users seeking MH services digitally

Citing an objective to determine the needs of individuals seeking mental health treatment and supportive services and to quantify their experiences and satisfaction with available digital navigation tools, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) authored a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Mental Health.