E12: Lori Krinsky: NAMI - You Are Not Alone Mental Health Goes to School

E12: Lori Krinsky: NAMI - You Are Not Alone

Lori Krinksy joins Candida and Jo-Ann to discuss her involvement with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Lori is her local chapter's president (volunteer) and walks us through NAMI’s national, state, and local programs and resources. NAMI is volunteer-driven, with some paid staff at the national and state levels. The 600 local chapters, while connected to the national organization, are run by volunteers and thus vary in program offerings and availability of resources. 

Lori tells us how NAMI was founded in the 1970s by a group of parents of young adults with mental illness who connected in a waiting room and realized that accessing mental health care was too complicated and often overwhelming. They wanted to help others avoid some of the frustrations and pitfalls and to help others know they were not alone. Unfortunately the mental health system is still extremely difficult to navigate, as Lori learned when she helped a family member with mental health challenges. Lori determined when she could see the light at the end of the tunnel she would work to help others on this journey.

The three main prongs of NAMI’s work are support, education, and advocacy. Support includes connections to peers for individuals living with mental illness, peer connections for family members, and basics for caregivers of minors. There is a helpline (not a crisis line) to help connect to local resources and providers. Education includes sharing accurate information about mental illness across many settings, educating about mental health care systems and how to navigate them, training first responders, and working with schools to eliminate stigma around mental illness. NAMI is also active in advocacy at all levels, including working to get the 988 suicide and crisis hotline up and running, supporting reimbursement of telehealth appointments, and promoting structural supports in schools, among others. This list is incomplete. Refer to the list below for links to NAMI resources.  

Timely Notice
NAMI Central Middlesex MA “College and Your Mental Health” webinar
3/18/24, 7:00 pm ET, will not be recorded
Learn more and register: namicentralmiddlesex.org/newsletter/february-2024/college-and-your-mental-health

NAMI National
nami.org
800-950-NAMI (6264)


NAMI Help Line and Teen & Young Adult Help Line
Call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), Text 62640, Chat nami.org/help, M-F 10:00-10:00 ET

NAMI Teen & Young Adult Resource Directory
nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Images/FactSheets/NAMI-Teen-and-Young-Adult-HelpLine-Resource-Directory.pdf

NAMI Mental Health College Guide
Collegeguide.nami.org

NAMI Family to Family
https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Family-to-Family

NAMI Peer-to-Peer
https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Peer-to-Peer

NAMI Basics
https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Basics

NAMI In Our Own Voice
https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-In-Our-Own-Voice

NAMI Walks
https://www.namiwalks.org

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
https://988lifeline.org

NAMI Ending the Silence
https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Mental-Health-Education/NAMI-Ending-the-Silence

Local Programs
To find programs in your area search for your NAMI state organization which may connect you to a local NAMI affiliate. Programs for parents/guardians include: Family Support Groups, Family to Family Classes, Basics Class. For classrooms: Ending the Silence.

NAMI Central Middlesex MA “College and Your Mental Health” webinar
3/18/24, 7:00 pm ET, will not be recorded
Learn more and register: namicentralmiddlesex.org/newsletter/february-2024/college-and-your-mental-health


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