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Did you know donating to NAMI Eastside not only helps provide free mental health services in our community but is also 100% tax deductible? NAMI Eastside is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Learn more about tax deductions for charitable giving here. Get your donation in before the end of the year and donate today!

How can I have positive relationships?

This month, we are focusing on positiviTEA.

Making sure that the relationships in our lives are positive and healthy is so important for our mental health. Unhealthy relationships can be emotionally draining and potentially dangerous. Healthy relationships should make you feel valued and supported. Fill your life with people you want to be with.

The difference between healthy and unhealthy love
with One Love CEO, Katie Hood

You Can Have a Mental Health Condition and a Healthy Relationship Too

By Amanda Phillips

It can be hard to talk about mental health in our society, and even more so with someone you’re excited about dating. I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety most of my life and received a Bipolar Type II diagnosis at age 22 which gave me an explanation for why I felt so down some days and high-strung on others. Finally, I was able to connect with the tools I needed to balance all of that out but I felt like I couldn’t talk to my partner about any of it. What if they couldn’t handle it? What if it scared them off?

Despite how common mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression are, mental illnesses are just as stigmatized today as they were years ago. I cannot count how many times I’ve been labeled in a way that felt diminishing yet familiar all at once.

“Amanda, you’re acting crazy,”

“Ugh, why are you such a basket case?!”

Whether the people that said this knew it or not, casual remarks like these kept me from advocating for my needs in most of my relationships and kept me locked in unhealthy romantic relationships because I believed my mental health conditions made me a burden.

Read the full article here.

Maintaining a Healthy Relationship
From NAMI

Relating to someone you love who has a mental illness can be difficult and frustrating, but there are strategies you can use to improve your communication with them. There may be a lot you don’t know about how your relative sees things when they’re symptomatic. These tips can help you build a stronger foundation for your relationship.

To get started on a better path in your relationship with your family member, first acknowledge that you can’t change them, only yourself. But the changes you make can improve your lives together. It’s critical to know as much as you can about their illness so you understand what they may be going through.

Learn more here.

"NAMI is my cup of tea because spreading awareness about something I struggled with is special!" - Roxanne, NAMI Eastside Youth Ambassador, Grade 12

"NAMI Eastside is my cup of tea because it provides an opportunity to combat the mental health stigmas and provide help to the community." - Vaishi, NAMI Eastside Youth Ambassador, Grade 11

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This year we launched our new Youth Ambassador program. With almost 30 ambassadors at middle and high schools across the Eastside, we are making sure that the next generation has mental health as a top priority! We are also learning from our students about how we can best support their mental health needs. Know a student how may be interested? You can learn more here.

Our TEArific moments would not have been possible without the support from our amazing community! Support our work here.

Donate now

Thank you to Jacob and Elenor Loran for their generous contribution to NAMI Eastside! We are proud to create a ‘Joan & Scott Legacy Fund’ to be used to help education, prevention, and support around suicide.

Upcoming Classes & Events

Click to learn more and to register!

EvergreenHealth Monthly Forum
Finding Joy in Pandemic Holidays
TONIGHT, December 21
7 - 8 PM

Family-to-Family Class *FULL*
Tuesdays starting Jan. 4
6 - 8 PM

Annual Member Meeting
Save the date!
Saturday, January 22

Spiritual Retreat with Joe Stevens
Saturday, Feb. 19
10 AM - 12:30 PM

Family-to-Family Class
Thursdays starting Feb. 24
6 - 8 PM

Check out our Family and Peer Support Group Schedules

The NAMI Eastside office will be closed Dec. 24 - Jan. 2.
If you are in crisis, call Crisis Connection's 24-hour hotline at 1-866-427-4747

If you have attended a NAMI Eastside program in 2021, we need you to please fill out this form. This information is necessary for us to secure our grant funding. You only need to fill it out once per year, and there is no personally identifiable information collected. If you have already filled it out, thank you!!

There are still matching funds available!
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You don't need to wait for a new year to learn something new! Start now. Here's the New York Times 10 best podcasts of 2021.