The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is a patient directed national organization focusing on the most prevalent mental health disorders. It promotes awareness of the impact and management of these mental health issues. I have long relied on their website for information and awareness about depression and bipolar disorder.
I was excited to learn this week of their national convention next month in Illinois. I applied for a scholarship to this convention, as I believe the key note speakers and breakout sessions would be perfect for me as far as where I am at personally and professionally and how my bipolar disorder affects those aspects of my life - all aspects of my life.
I have looked for a local chapter of DBSA but I haven't found much satisfying information about it. One of the opportunities I would like to take away from the convention is information necessary to start my own chapter. Wyoming has a major shortage of available mental healthcare and support. The waiting list in Cheyenne for Peak Wellness, the only facility that charges based on income, is often upwards of nine months. This is outrageous! By starting my own chapter of DBSA, my hope would be to provide some peer support for individuals in-between treatment, just starting treatment, or uncertain about whether to seek treatment.
I am over the moon excited about the speakers at this conference. Let me tell you a little about them, even though they are pretty well-known.
Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD: I believe I referenced her in one of my recent posts. She is a researcher, author, and most importantly, a consumer of mental health services. I have read several of her books, and especially found benefit in An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness. Two other books, Exuberance and Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, the second of which addresses the creativity/mental health connection I discussed last week. I admire her greatly, believe she is one of the finest minds in the mental healthcare field, and it would be a dream come true to see her speak.
Jessie Close: The sister of actress Glenn Close, who has a book coming out soon abut the history of her own mental illness as well as that of the family. She has worked with Bring Change 2 Mind, an organization that is devoted to minimizing the stigma of depression.
Marya Hornbacher: Wrote Madness: A Bipolar Life and Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. She is an amazing woman who has been to the brink of hell and back. She experienced bipolar disorder as a child, which I can't even begin to imagine, since treatment was in its early stages at the time. This survivor inspires me, because it's hard to feel sorry for myself when I see how truly remarkable she is, and how much worse things can really get. Her story makes me grateful for how insignificant most of my problems really are.
Not only are the speakers exciting, but the line-up of breakout sessions appear to have been designed with my specific needs in mind! Among many sessions, these are the ones I would like to attend:
Reentering the Workforce - Tips for those whose careers were interrupted by mental illness.
Acting on Impulse - Addressses the causes and consequences of impulsivity during mania.
Rediscovering Your Passions - Reconnect with the joy in life, reflecting on what makes you you.
Creativity and Healing - demonstrates how healing art therapy can be in fight of mood disorder.
Women & Mood Disorders - Addresses issues specific to women dealing with mental disorders.
Start a DBSA Support Group Workshop
So, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed about this scholarship, and in the meantime thinking I might start selling some of my handmade cards to raise some of the money so that the scholarship could go to another deserving person.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, check out their website at http://www.dbsalliance.org.
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