NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has a free Family Caregiver HelpLine to support caregivers. It’s only available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday. But it’s a start.
To reach the HelpLine by phone, call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) and press “4.” That will connect you to a family caregiver specialist. The specialists have lived experience as caregivers for loved ones with mental illness. They are trained to offer others support, guidance , tools and strategies for dealing with your issues.
Other ways to reach the specialists are:
- Texting the word “family” to 62640
- Emailing helpline@nami.org
- Mailing a letter to NAMI HelpLine
4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22203
Of course, if you have a crisis situation, call 988 immediately.
NAMI Books for Caregivers
NAMI’s “You Are Not Alone” book series now includes a volume for caregivers and parents who have children and teenagers dealing with mental illness.
Child psychiatrist and NAMI Associate Medical Director Dr. Christine Crawford wrote the book. “You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers” discusses how mental health conditions manifest from preschool to high school.
The book is available at Amazon, Target and Barnes & Noble. More information about the book is here.
OnDemand NAMI Basics Class
My husband and I benefited from NAMI’s Family-to-Family classes. We also gained a lot from the support groups. This was particularly helpful in the early days of our child’s schizophrenia diagnosis. Now you can get the information without leaving your home.
The OnDemand NAMI Basics Class is for parents, caregivers, older siblings and other family members who support a child or teenager living with mental illness. This free, online program gives you information and tools for navigating the changes.
You can sign up for the NAMI Basics OnDemand class here. This is a self-paced class that you can access at any time.
If you don’t know what to do, you are likely to make things worse. You must have knowledge of available resources to get the best support for your loved one. NAMI’s resources are getting better all the time. Other books and websites that helped my family are found on the Resource page.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes