Nanci Schiman 2011 Mental Health Hero Cartoon-A-Thon by Chato Stewart

Nanci Schiman 2011 Mental Health Hero Cartoon-A-Thon by Chato Stewart

Hi Chato, Thank you for spotlighting so many great people as mental health heroes!

My story is not just about me, but about my family and the ways we’ve been affected by mental illness. I’ll start with my kids because my most important role is helping them to achieve and maintain wellness independently.

I have 3 teenage daughters, 14, 16 and 18. My oldest, Sara, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 9 and my youngest, Leah, was diagnosed at age 10 (probably should have been sooner but I was pretty adamant about pushing the diagnosis back across the table and saying ‘no thank you, one child with mental illness is quite enough’). Sara was hospitalized when she was 10 and we went through some really tough years when the depressive side of the illness dragged her down a deep, dark hole for several months each fall and winter. During her first year of high school she missed so much school she was placed on home bound tutoring and an extended school year. We weren’t sure if she’d ever graduate from high school or even live to reach 18. On June 12th Sara will graduate from high school with high honors and will be attending Concordia University this fall to major in multimedia and mass communications. She has such empathy, compassion and insight that in many ways she is wise beyond her years. I celebrate who she is each and every day. Sara is becoming a mental health advocate in her own right. Here are links to some of her work that she’s done for her school, CABF and BringChange2Mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAHmx0_1TKY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it2S0ja2GlU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLTV1BqWdi0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdRwZyz9UJE

Leah has had a really tough journey and I holdonto the knowledge that her older sister came through this illness and so will she. Even though Leah and Sara share a diagnosis, the illness has manifested in very different ways. Leah suffers from debilitating anxiety, rapid cycling with mania that is marked by edginess, irritability, lack of sleep and anger. Her depressions take her to a very dark place where she wants to die to escape the pain. Leah was hospitalized 3 times within a year of her diagnosis and then spent 2 ½ months at a residential treatment center in Texas, 2000 miles from home at age 11. While this was the hardest choice we’ve ever had to make, it was the right one and gave Leah relief from many of her symptoms. However, we’re not out of the woods. Many days are still a struggle and we continue to search for the right combination of interventions (medication, therapy, nutrition) to give Leah lasting stability.

Sara’s diagnosis changed my career and brought me into the world of mental health advocacy. Although I have a masters in Social Work, I’d not put it to use for many years. But 8 years ago I found the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation and within days became a volunteer providing support for other parents who were new to the world of mental illness. To take the pain that my child (and our family) had experienced, and put it to use to help others, gave some sense and meaning to all this ‘bad stuff’ that had happened. Two years later I was hired as the Program Manager, the job I still hold today. I oversee all of our online support programs with the help of 100+ volunteers and a fabulous team of coworkers. We provide support, information and resources to 1000’s of families through 27 support groups, 6 forums, nightly chat rooms and one on one support and guidance with our Family Response Team. In my spare time I deal with depression and attention deficit disorder and practice a 12 step program so that I can face life’s challenges in a healthy way.

In the past two years I’ve expanded my advocacy through my involvement with BringChange2Mind as well as speaking engagements locally and around Wisconsin to educators, clinicians and parents. I’m proud to be able to call some really amazing people my colleagues – Cinda and Linea Johnson, Chrisa Hickey, Tracey Anglada, Jessie and Calen Close. They have encouraged and inspired me to keep raising the bar so that I can make a difference in some way every day.

Warmly,

Nanci