The President of NAMI, a good man dedicated to our cause, sent a letter to affiliates suggesting that if NAMI National were to focus primarily on serious mental illness, as many affiliates and states still do–that that would create a smaller tent for NAMI, and make NAMI less effective than the broad-based mental-wellness type organization that NAMI National has morphed into.
His letter was sent in light of the fact that four candidates for the NAMI board are running on the “Focus on Serious Mental Illness” ticket. I am one of the candidates. We were all told not to campaign. But because that letter was sent, I thought it important to clarify for you what we are proposing and why we think a clearer focus on the seriously ill is needed at NAMI. Below is the letter I sent to the President of NAMI addressing this. Please feel free to share. Thank you.
DJ Jaffe
Author, Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill