Tracy Ruckman

In our quest to find help for our loved one dealing with mental illness, I've been provided with lists of resources. I thought it might be helpful to compile them into one blog post in case others might need access to these resources, too. Some of the resources are located in Georgia, and may be for Georgia residents only, but others are national. If you find something helpful located in GA, I recommend contacting that office to see if someone there knows of anything similar in your own state. Organizations: National Alliance for Mental Health - NAMI - www.NAMI.org Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - SAMHSA - www.samhsa.gov Treatment Facilities & Resources: Georgia Association of Recovery Residences - GARR - www.garrnow.org           substance abuse will be primary problem but often mental 24/7 Gateway Center (affiliated with St. Jude’s Mercy Care) www.gatewayctr.org/programs-and-services/ Books: Boundaries: When to ...

Our loved one has only had a mental illness diagnosis a short time, so we've only just begun navigating on this journey toward wellness and functionality. But we've already learned some things that might help others on the same journey. 1) You are not alone. There are others - many others - who have loved ones who suffer from mental health issues - you just may have to open yourself up and share a little of your story to encourage others to speak out. 2) Extended family and friends cannot actually understand what you are going through if they themselves don't have an immediate family member going through the same thing. I'm sorry - they just can't and don't understand. And that's okay. Most of the time. 3) As extended family, they're probably not actively involved in the treatment plans, so most of the time, it's okay that they don't understand. But this can become a problem - as I've recently discovered - when extended family or fr...