What A Difference A Friend Makes
This lens seeks to bring attention to folks who suffer with a mental illness and how to be a better friend to them. Its absolute goal is to promote mental-illness awareness, and encourage acceptance and discussion. ...A big thank you to those who have commented on and promoted this lens in any way. My utmost respect to you.
What A Difference A Friend Does Make
Stepping up to the plate
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched a campaign — What A Difference A Friend Makes — to encourage people (especially those 18 to 25 years old — the age group suffering the most and seeking the least health care) to support and encourage their mentally ill friends. What a wonderful idea! Let's do it! Let's educate ourselves and eliminate the stigma of mental illness so that our friends and family who suffer will feel like accepted members of society — and be more likely to seek help. Door Knob
Public Service Announcement Script
Points of Interest
- Real stories
- Real people telling their story — listen or read.
- Share your own story
- Write and send in your own story to share on the site.
- More PSAs
- View or read more Public Service Announcements.
- How to be a friend to someone with a mental illness
- An interactive video offering tips on how you can be a support to your friend.
- Tips to read
- Read of more ways to help a friend.
- Myths and facts
- Just how misunderstood are mental illnesses?
Book Recommendations
Two quality resources for learning more about mental illness
Helping Friends and Family
From past First Lady, Rosalynn Carter
Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers
Amazon Price: $16.24 (as of 12/04/2009)
Reviews
"An important resource for families, friends, and those facing the challenges of mental illness. It delivers its message with warmth, clarity, and candor." -Laurie Flynn, executive director, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
"Family and friends of persons with mental illness will want to turn to Mrs. Carter's book first for empathy, information, and advice. This is an excellent guide." -C. Everett Koop, M.D., former Surgeon General of the United States
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A Mother's Loss
A biography that "takes you there"
His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 12/04/2009)
Reviews:
"A powerful and personal story....His bright light is Danielle Steel's legacy and tribute to her son, as well as haunting depiction of manic-depression." —The Saturday Evening Post
"Danielle Steel has written a spellbinding account of her son 's struggle with bipolar illness....Valuable insights....We come away with a heightened sensitivity that perhaps only a writer of this distinction could convey, of what it is like to try to cope with a child with a severe psychiatric disorder....This is a book about what we can do —as parents, as physicians, as human beings." —Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
"Reading His Bright Light moved me to tears as the memoir captures so vividly the ferocious nature of mental illness....Sharing [Nick's] story will save lives. His Bright Light will make a difference for countless others. —Laurie Flynn, Executive Director, NAMI (The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill)
My Online Friend
luvmyludwig
I met her at Squidoo through her lens, Two Bears and a Lady, Bipolar Disorder And Me. I support her and applaud her for making her illness public. This girl has strength and courage! I am proud to call her my friend.Covenant House
Covenant House is the largest privately-funded nonprofit agency in North and Central America providing shelter and other services to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth.
Comments From Friends
How do you help a friend who suffers? Any tips for friendships? What do you think about the stigma of mental illness?
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- Spook Spook Dec 1, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
- To have a friend, first one must be a friend. I'm with you here Mimi. Blessed by an Angel.
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- ftuley ftuley Oct 23, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
- Really good lens! 5* and fav, thank you for sharing, really enjoyed reading it.
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- BevsPaper BevsPaper Oct 22, 2009 @ 6:27 am
- It has been several months since I visited this lens. I'll thank you once again for writing about Mental Illness to help people be more aware and with this visit I can now "Bless" it with much love and respect.
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- mukunda22 mukunda22 Oct 14, 2009 @ 6:03 am
- Hi MiMi- one of my best friends of 50 years disappeared and recently resurfaced. We all thought he had died.
In reality, he was in an institution for major depression.
I was so happy to speak with him when he called!! Society shuns such people. But we need not.
Imagine the wings of a loving angels embracing all who suffer-- even as they bless this wonderful lens!
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- Oct 3, 2009 @ 12:08 am
- Mimi, thanks for helping 'normalize' mental illness. It seems to me that from a spiritual perspective, we're all suffering from degrees of 'insanity'; we persuade ourselves into thinking that we honestly know anything factual about this thing called life, and that what we know about should then apply to everyone else. (Like Byron Katie has said, 'All suffering arises from the thought that things should be different than they are'). We judge one another by our status more than anything- ie- a homeless person must be 'crazy' to live like that. But that's really only a correct belief system for someone who believes their particular content should apply to everyone else, and ignores the greater context (ie, the refusal to look at the bigger picture). When we look at the bigger picture, we can see that we're all in this together, one Heart, one Self. Thanks for portraying that in your lenses. Love, darcie
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- kitty222 kitty222 Aug 27, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
- Hi, I lensrolled you to my Delilah page! Maybe you can provide some tips on how to help friends with mental illnesses, like give them a ride to their doctor when they need it. This is so relevent...Sometimes you just have to be a real friend 'cause you never know when you might need a real friend, too.
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- bipolar_bare bipolar_bare Aug 18, 2009 @ 10:48 pm
- A Terrific lens. Very comprehensive. I especially liked your section on Myths and Facts about mental illness, where you give some very good answers to some commonly asked and some not so commonly asked questions.
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- cjsysreform cjsysreform Jul 18, 2009 @ 7:56 pm
- Thanks for pointing me here. I've finally linked back to your review of my Prison Madness lens, and I've also provided a link back here via lensroll. Sorry it took so long; I really appreciate what you've done to help spread awareness on this topic. Best regards, Amanda Sage
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- _Joan_ _Joan_ Jul 5, 2009 @ 7:04 pm
- This is something I needed. Thanks for making this lens.
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- mulberry mulberry Jun 1, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
- Important message, the average person understands so little about any type of mental illness, and as a result miss the boat in helping when possible. Thanks for doing this!
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About The Author
Lensmaster GrowWear has been a member since January 27 2007, has rated 3,373 lenses, favorited 3,141, and has created 70 lenses from scratch. MiMi GrowWear donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "Homeless In America". See all my lenses
by GrowWear
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