Mental Health Ministries e-Spotlight

Summer, 2007 

It’s summertime and the living is easy!  Since there are no major religious holidays during the summer, it is a great time to plan a worship service with an emphasis on mental health issues.   

Featured Resource:  Our current Featured Resource is “Addiction and Depression.”  Addictions of all kinds are often used to mask an underlying depression.  Persons can abuse substances to “self medicate.”  In this resource three persons share their stories of addiction and depression…stories that end in recovery and hope.  Running Time-17:45 minutes.

 Spanish Language Resources: We all know of the need to provide more resources for the Hispanic community.  Mental Health Ministries is very grateful to the volunteers from INGENIUM ABP for translating three of our resources into Spanish…May is Mental Health Month, Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents and Coping with a Loved One’s Depression.  INGENIUM ABP is a non profit association of volunteers located in Monterrey, Mexico.  They work closely with NAMI and have translated into Spanish the Family to Family program and the Peer to Peer program.  With there help, we hope to have a resource for Mental Illness Awareness Week in October and our Coping with the Holidays brochure available in Spanish for the fall.

 Postpartum Depression resource:  The taping of the interviews for our postpartum depression resource is complete and we are in the editing phase.  We hope to be able to offer this resource in the fall.  Mental Health Ministries is still very grateful for any contributions for this project.  Contact Susan if you would like to be make a contribution and be included in the credits for this DVD.

Fall Speaking Dates

Fresno, California – October 11, 2007 – Contact is Helen Ruth Siporin, Interfaith Social Justice Collaboration, NAMI Fresno, (559) 999-6163, siporin@comcast.net

Boulder, Colorado – October 18, 2007 – Contact is Joanne Kelly, President, NAMI Boulder County, (303) 494-4882, jkelly@sizzlemarcom.com

Faith Based Websites (other links available on our website)

         

  • FaithNet NAMI - The NAMI National Convention will be meeting in San Diego June 20-24, 2007!  There will be a FaithNet Special Interest Workshop featuring a number of speakers.  Even if you cannot attend the conference, there is a downloadable flyer listing the presenters and their contact information on the Mental Health Ministries website under Upcoming Events.  You are also encouraged to sign up to receive the FaithNet NAMI newsletter at faithnet@nami.org.

 

  • SAMHSA:  SAMHSA ADS Center – SAMHSA’s resource center to address discrimination and stigma (ADS Center) helps people design, implement, and operate programs that reduce discriminations and stigma associated with mental illness.  The site includes Mental Health Ministries and other faith groups working to erase the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities. 

    www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/topics_materials/faith.htm

  

  • Families USA:  The Voice for Health Care Consumers has recently created a new faith-based resource center on their website.  This resource center is intended to empower those in the faith community who wish to advocate for high-quality, affordable health care for all and, at the same time to help advocates seeking to reach to communities of faith.  Click on Center for Faith-Based Resources on the left side of their home page.

    http://www.familiesusa.org/index.html

 

  • The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation focused on spirituality and mental illness in their most recent issue.  Included in the issue is an article about Mental Health Ministries.  There is a cost involved in viewing the articles. But it is encouraging to see academic journals addressing the important role of spirituality in the treatment and recovery process.

    www.bu.edu/cpr/

         

We all need Sabbath time to renew our bodies and our spirits.  You can read a devotion called “Sabbath Time” in the Inspiration section on our website.

We have few structured opportunities to intentionally practice Sabbath time.   Many of those who spend an hour in worship once a week see that as fulfilling Sabbath time.   But it is not enough.   We are paying the price for ignoring our personal spiritual rhythms of Sabbath time in our relationship with work, with our families and in time spent with the Divine.  

May you find Sabbath time to refresh your spirit this summer.

 Susan

 Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder

Coordinator of Mental Health Ministries

6707 Monte Verde Dr.

San Diego, CA 92119

www.MentalHealthMinistries.net

sgschroed@cox.net