 Welcome to Shrink Rap Hawaii, I'm Steven Phillip Katz, I'm a marriage and family therapist and today I am really excited to tell you that I have the Executive Director of NAMI Hawaii, that's the National Alliance on Mental Illness and we're excited for Kumi McDonald to be here because this Saturday is a very, very important day, probably the most important day of the year for NAMI Hawaii. Is that right Kumi? Yes, thank you for having me back. Oh, thanks for coming. So, tell us about the walk. Well, the walk is this Saturday, October 8th and it's going to start, check-in is at 8 o'clock, we start the walk promptly at 9 and it's a 5K fun health and wellness walk. Really the goal of the walk is to raise awareness on mental health and say that we as a community member, as a family member, as an employee or wherever you are in your walk of life that we care about mental health and then also it is a fundraiser. And where does it start? We are at Honolulu Halle on the civic grounds, right next to where they set up the giant Christmas tree in the Santa Claus during the Christmas holidays, that big grassy field will be there at 8 o'clock on Saturday, October 8th. So the purpose is to raise some money, to raise awareness, that's what NAMI does, to raise awareness about mental health and mental illness issues. Why is that important? What will awareness do that needs doing? It's a movement that's going across the nation. It's really something that a lot of young people are being made aware of and saying it affects us. I believe a lot of mental health conditions show its first signs in teenage adolescence or young adulthood, like as they enter college is a really difficult time for a lot of people. And so a lot of high schools and college students are really made aware, so the movement is really picking up steam. And so the NAMI walks is all across the nation at various times of the year, so every state will have one. And so it's a really exciting time. It's something that every year, even in Hawaii, the numbers keep rising in attendance. And it's a fun day, but it's also a really important day to say that we care, that we want to make others know that mental health is something that affects one in five of us in Hawaii. That's your neighbor, that's your family, that's your friend. So it's a really important event and it's gaining a lot of movement. And full disclosure, I must say that NAMI has made an enormous impact on my life because I've been personally affected. My son was diagnosed some years ago and when that first happened in our family, and I've seen this happen again and again with other people who are also affected like this, you feel very alone. You just don't know what hit you. It's something you don't expect, you don't hear about because people don't talk about it. Like you break your leg and you tell the story about how you went to the hospital and you got it fixed. Or it's not even cancer, it used to be a big taboo to talk about cancer, but now it's talked about a lot. But mental illness, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, there's a lot of shame. And so shame causes a stigma or vice versa, I don't know which came first. And people are scared because there's this fear, if they find out at work that I have a mental illness that I'm coping with a mental illness or my friends or if you're in college and somebody thinks you're crazy, you can't have that. Denial yourself because whatever you're dealing with, that's all you know, you have nothing to compare it to. So Nami gave me a place, first of all, where I went and got myself educated, I mean even though I'm a therapist, I did not know how it was going to affect me and my family. And so Nami pays for, I mean that's what the walk helps support, a free education class, a series of 12 classes, right, like what are they, like two and a half hours each on a Saturday morning, absolutely free. And then I started attending the support groups, the one that I attend since I live on the Wimbledon side is a castle hospital, the fourth Tuesday of each month, and I attended that for a long time. And then the person facilitating it left and so I ended up facilitating it, now I've been doing that for a couple of years and it's what I've learned doing that is that the first time somebody shows up at a support group meeting, hopefully I remembered to bring a box of tissues because the first time that somebody can talk about their loved one that has a mental illness and what it's doing to them and their family and talk about it in front of people that are dealing with the same stuff, there's tears, lots and lots of tears and it's not tears, yes the sadness, but there's also relief to be among people who get it because even though I'm in the field, you don't get it unless it happens to you and it's an ongoing process and so I continue to go, I'll probably go forever and I am so grateful for NAMI. I never knew it existed, I think most people still don't know it exists because you wouldn't have a reason to know it exists unless you need help and that's part of what The Walk I guess is about is putting our name out there so people know that there's help. Yes absolutely, so NAMI does provide all of our programs free of charge, we provide family to family classes, support groups, we have NAMI on campus clubs, we have awareness events, we have minority mental awareness event that we just had with Dr. Alana Coffey who was a previous guest, we also do conferences and go out to different businesses and schools and universities and share and speak and bring awareness so all of our programs are free but it does it does cost money so this fundraiser really is free, we have to pay the rent, we have to pay for paper and we have office supplies so it really is funds that helps keep this organization running and many of the NAMI Walk participants will be family members who go who were deeply impacted by the programs that we provided just like yourself just like myself and we every family can share a story I think like it's the statistics say one in five everyone can share a story about a time when someone in their family might have had a depressive episode or had some type of a smaller mental health condition but there are other serious mental health conditions such illnesses such as bipolar, schizophrenia, major depression that really is again another overwhelming illness that the family has to deal with. Overwhelming is the perfect word because you really don't know what to do and then is coping with your own guilt about the issue which doesn't help and most of the mental illnesses we were talking about really don't have, they're chemical and they used to think that schizophrenia was caused by you know bad mothers and we've learned that that's not true at all because we don't accuse parents and say well you were a bad parent that's why your child is struggling with an illness or you're a bad parent because your kid has a struggling with type 1 diabetes, leukemia, whatever it may be and we don't we don't do that and that's the same thing with a mental illness it's it's something that is not your fault it's not the family's fault it is a chemical brain something in the brain I'm not a medical doctor but that is what the research continues to show. Right and as a parent or brother or sister you can't help but think oh if only I could say the right thing yes right if only I didn't say this or I did say that you know you think and it's ongoing it is it's not like a one-time thing it's like even now I think all right should I do this or should I do that and there's you know I've also learned great books like that book I'm not sick I don't need help yes you know written by dr. Amador who had a brother struggling with schizophrenia I believe and it's a very good guide on how to talk to your loved one because we we can use a lot of help absolutely and I think like you said like families you know sometimes we don't know how to communicate and we don't know what to say we don't know how to respond how to set the boundaries and that's really what family to family is all about it's families getting together we learn from another two teachers that have actually lived through that experience yeah and have family members in that same experience and so they teach they get specially trained and it's a you get a big binder and it's a wealth of information I go back to the chapters all the time when I what was that chapter on communication I look it up yeah what was that chapter on setting boundaries because again these issues continue to come back and it's just a really good tool book that that you can just have in your resource and so often mental health issues are mixed up with addiction issues yes there's so much dual diagnoses they call it and it's you know because people try to self-medicate yes you know people who are mentally ill most often don't want to take their prescribed medication but they'll drink yes well they'll smoke paka lolo yes right and believe that that's helping them so it's really important to learn how to help and how not to help exactly absolutely and it's the support groups are another thing you mentioned and that's where families come together and share their stories and so there are kind of resources for each other and say this work with my family this is how I communicate with my daughter my son and they share stories and support one another and that's so important that's so important I always go I think ironically everybody comes away from those meetings feeling like oh well their problems are worse than mine which is helpful in a funny way yeah I mean it obviously they can't all be right but it feels like that maybe it's that feeling of connection to other people who get it exactly how many years has not me been in Hawaii we've been officially a state organization of the National Alliance on mental illness as of 1991 so it's been a while 25 years I can't do the math is that right so it's a good place we could do the math while we're on taking a break don't go away don't touch your mouth we'll be right back hello ha my name is Josh Green I serve a senator from the big island on the Kona side and I'm also an emergency room physician my program here on think tech is called healthcare in Hawaii I'll have guests that should be interesting to you twice a month we'll talk about issues that range from mental health care to drug addiction to our health care system and any challenges that we face here in Hawaii we hope you'll join us again thanks for supporting think tech hello my name is Crystal let me tell you my talk show I'm all about health it's healthy to talk about sex it's healthy to talk about things that people don't talk about it's healthy to discuss things that you think are unhealthy because you need to talk about it so I welcome you to watch quok talk and engage in some provocative discussions on things that do relate to healthy issues and have a well-balanced attitude in life join me welcome welcome back this is Steve Katz again still with Kumi McDonald and talking about our walk on Saturday October 8th starting at 9 a.m. check-in starts at 8 and it's in front of Honolulu Halle be where the Christmas decorations usually Santa yeah right so so you you said this is our 10th annual walk it is it's our 10th annual walk and this year is going to be a really fun one because we're going to have Kaleo KP Pilonca who was 2015's best MC awardee from the advertiser oh well so he's really funny comedian great MC he also works at the state hospital oh yeah so he's going to be MCing we have this amazing 12-year-old guitar phenom who's going to come and wow us he does concerts all over the world so he's Elvis Imomura so he's going to do some entertainment and we're going to have lots of fun kids games and activities bouncy house face painter balloon artists oh wow and we also have Dr. Alana coffee coming you interviewed her in the past she's a great psychologist she's actually PhD psychologist and she will bring a whole crew with her of therapists oh wow to offer free advice right ask the therapist said yeah therapist so we'll have Remington massage we're giving away free massages right there so we're going to have some really wonderful things happening this Saturday and it's there's no charge to walk it's absolutely free you know all the other ones that they the big pink or green other events that go around the in the year they charge upwards of 30 40 dollars to register our registration is free so you can just come on down you can sign up on walk day and it's going to be a great fun day rain or shine sign up online to we encourage everybody to sign up online so that we can prepare for you and if you get a hundred dollars worth of donations which is really easy to do you'll get a free walk t-shirt oh cool yeah and it's really easy like Steve you have been our top fundraisers and so you know it's just a matter of getting it out on Facebook Instagram Twitter emailing all my friends and just people you know I really I want to say thank you to my son because the reason that I've been able to do so well with my friends and family who well because they're generous that's the one but also because the email that I've sent around to people to ask them to donate money to Nami has my own story which is really my son's story and my son has been incredibly brave in sharing his story with the world really because you know when you send it out I put it up on Facebook other people repost it and so it's out there what he's been going through some of it and I that's the most powerful thing that a person can do I think to eliminate the stigma yes is when you can stand up and say hey this is something I deal with yes and this is something I'm still dealing with and that I want to share with the world because that's the only way that we're all gonna learn to work with mental illness not against but with which is very important because as a family you work with your family member not against absolutely this is very important I was reading this great book called voices of hope which is talks about working with it and talks about how mental illness is dealt with in other places unfortunately Hawaii the last time I read about it we were ranked 49 out of 51 states in services for mental health and that's another reason Nami Hawaii exists is to try to change that absolutely and it's very difficult to change because people and families dealing with this are already stretched to the limit to try to influence the legislature to put money towards this problem is very difficult it is and people always say that to me what does your organization do to help the homeless or this bigger issue and all I I'm a family member just like you I'm a person living in recovery from major depression so I vocalize my story but I just tell people we're just a small organization but if people come out can you imagine if 10,000 people showed up on Saturday to walk how that would make a change in this government sure in the society and say wow this is important we better take a look at this again so that's what really we're trying to show I mean if you look at the history of oppression in this country whether it's oppression because of race or religion or sexual orientation it's people coming out exactly saying here I am I'm proud of who I am this is what I'm dealing with and we need to change it that's the way change is made it takes a long time it takes a lot of pressure but eventually amazing things happen and I've seen amazing things happen with my son right now you know and it's about a lot of it is having hope that things can get better sometimes that's really hard I mean most people aren't even aware that you can't get admitted to the state hospital in Hawaii right now unless you commit a crime yes it's a forensic facility which means a legal facility which means you have to have some you have to be accused of or convicted of a criminal offense you know in order to get into the state hospital that's true that's insane is that's the definition of crazy isn't it yeah yeah but if you show up in an emergency room with a mental health problem they're gonna ask you if you feel like killing yourself or somebody else and if you say no they're gonna say there's not really much we can do for you you can't stay here so there's not places for people to live there's not be places for people to get emergency help or long-term help the group home situation there are group homes they're very difficult there's waiting lists to get in and then a lot of times that's not enough care a lot of people need you know 24-7 help and that's it's expensive but it's a lot less expensive than having somebody go to the ER 10 times a day yes and you know my own point of view is that it's all about money here and unfortunately the health system is connected to our corporate system the insurance system exactly so it's really hard to get people to say no this problem should not be about money somebody sick and needs help they should get help yes and it's so many things to address yeah and again that's what I always bring it back down to the walk it really is the truth and I really believe in this that if 10,000 100,000 people showed up we would make a big statement right and we would say hey this is something we got to do and that's the small step that each individual can make right and that's free it's free I mean it doesn't cost you anything you're gonna have a good time and you're gonna make everybody's always chatting along the walk I mean it's not a race right yes and we're gonna have wonderful prizes you can win some fabulous prizes and you get if you come early I'll give anybody comes up a guarantee they come up and ask me I'll give them a kiss oh maybe they'll get people not to come we even have a free goodie bags at first come first served but we have ah several hundred goodie bags to give away with lots of gifts in there so it's a it's gonna be a great day but again it's just about just every human being it every one person could just do their part yeah yeah and it's not like it's not fun it is fun yeah I'm always have a good time with people there and some people can't walk and they could be a virtual walker register online and still be a virtual walker or just be the person that say well I can't donate any money then you don't have to donate why don't you forward it on Facebook and Instagram and get five people to donate five dollars oh that's a great idea because I've had people tell me oh Steve that was a really nice letter you sent me but I can't afford I should say well then just follow the letter yeah absolutely forward it yeah great idea yeah so you think we're just gonna have to keep doing this forever I think it's I would love to keep doing it forever hopefully yes absolutely but I believe that change is happening I can I've been with Nami Hawaii these past two and a half years and I've seen tremendous change in the past two years just the the number of phone calls we get the response we get we've received national partnerships with two major agencies so this is the last year we've gotten a partnership with Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Inc which is a national African American women sorority so this is a huge organization that's partnered with Nami and then we've also partnered recently with HOSA which is Health Organization Student Association so there are all these smart students in high school and colleges that are also a big powerful organization I'm gonna stop you there because you just reminded me I was out at the West Oahu campus of Hawaii yeah University of Hawaii and they had their first Nami Club meeting correct yeah and it was amazing it was absolutely amazing because first there was a presentation done by one of the members on depression just an educational on what is clinical depression and what it's not and then afterwards we all sat together in a circle and I just asked people so how come you're here and people opened up and share their own personal story and it was so fearless and it felt so good there was an instant sense of belonging and community and people sharing their experiences and there was one of the members there I found out puts up on Facebook like he makes little videos like how to choose a therapist and I was just like what a brave thing to do is like no more stigma it's like this is who I am this is where I was this is where I got to you know this is what I'm still dealing with talking about medication and how to go about figuring out what's right for you and and being empowered to speak up for yourself and tell your doctor well this is what's working this isn't what's working you know what can we do to fix it it's just sort of taking control over your own life and it's neat that these college students are really getting into this movement and really just really interested in helping others helping themselves yeah yeah and they do it better than their own families can do it because when you're too connected in the family it's hard yes because your ego is involved in all this other stuff the whole child-parent relationship can be difficult absolutely I know it yeah yeah yeah yeah so Nami on campus is on three campuses Kapiolani Community College UH Manoa and UH West Oahu so if you want more information contact us again at NamiHawaii.org and we get you connected yeah and I don't know if it's true on all the campuses but on the West Oahu campus the leader there told me it's open to anyone you don't have to be a student there you can go to those meetings I think they're the I don't want to misspeak but contact us and we'll get it on the Nami.org website NamiHawaii.org it's so new that it's not up on the web yet but I can give you the information okay and they can get to you from the website absolutely NamiHawaii.org yes and what is there a different website for the walk you can go to our website and if there's a link to the walk site but the walk site to register is NamiWalksHawaii.org slash Hawaii Nami walks Hawaii there it is there it is NamiWalks.org slash Hawaii okay all right thanks so much hope to see you all on Saturday thank you for joining me Steve Katz and Kumi McDonald for another hopefully fun episode of shrink wrap Hawaii see you next time aloha