About Dr. Glo…

F2F Co-Instructor – Gloria Gibson

When I took Family2Family (F2F) in early 2010 at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, I was desperate.  I was suffering from a great amount of stress because I didn’t know anything about mental illness and couldn’t quite believe that’s what I was seeing in a young relative.

It never occurred to me that the change I saw after his recent graduation from college had anything to do with his mental condition.  I thought the onset of his temper tantrums and mood swings were due to stress or  frustration over not finding a job or a recent break-up.

After he was taken to an emergency room for observation and eventually released because an administrative judge, in spite of testimony from psychiatric health care workers, deemed he was not “a danger to himself or others,” I realized a different kind of help was needed: education.

As I began to read up on his symptoms, I eventually came across the name NAMI as a source for information.  Surprisingly, no one I had encountered in the legal, health care, or correctional system had told me about NAMI.  But when I called and later visited the NAMI office in Maryland, I found – I was not alone.

Eager for more information, I eventually enrolled in the FREE 12-week course called Family2Family, the next time it started.   I never missed a class during our meetings in Annapolis and soon even began attending monthly Support Group meetings.

By the time the 12-week course ended, I was encouraged, had become an advocate, and experienced significantly less stress.  I had new coping skills and a greater understanding about a biologically-based disease.   Just learning about the behavioral manifestations of mental illness  was so insightful, that I wanted to share the news – TREATMENT WORKS.

I took NAMI’s training to become a F2F teacher and after becoming NAMI-certified, I began teaching  the course with co-teachers: Ray Scarpulo and Denise Miller .  We rarely had less than 25 caregivers or relatives of mentally-challenged individuals in a class.  The need continues to be great in Anne Arundel County, as well as, elsewhere in the State and country.

What makes the course special is that we’re AUTHENTIC. We know what it is like to be caregivers of a relative with mental health issues; we know what it is to wrestle with guilt, frustration, and, yes, pain, of seeing our expections about our relatives change.

So it really doesn’t matter how many degrees we have, our professions, or anything else… when it comes to mental illness, what really matters is have we earned the right to talk about what we’re talking and teaching about?  Absolutely!!!  

Anyone in any of the F2F classes we have taught can do what we do.  And I invite our F2F graduates to consider taking the training and becoming certified to teach F2F; it a wonderful way to give back and to move beyond our own stressful situations.

I’m honored and humbled to have taught nearly 100 adults who have relatives with mental illness.  I’m inspired by your stories and your strengths.  But most of all, I’m moved by your willingness to help change thoughts about mental illness on a local and national level.  

I hope you will leave comments and use this Blog (family2family4md.wordpress.com) to share your stories and experiences so that they might encourage others… and show policy makers that much work still needs to be done – from Mental Health Courts to Dual Treatment Centers – to help those with brain disorders.

Gratefully yours,