Displays have been in place this week outside Wanaka, Alexandra and Cromwell supermarkets drawing attention to the role of national organisation Supporting Families as part of the nationwide Schizophrenia Awareness Week.
Beginning last Monday and running until this Sunday, Schizophrenia Awareness Week is an annual event, but the Central Otago and Wakatipu branches of Supporting Families are aiming to raise awareness about mental illness in general, not just schizophrenia.
SF Central Otago and SF Wakatipu provide advocacy, support and activity groups and a mobile field worker service for the region, offering free and confidential support to the families of people with mental illness throughout the area.
SF Central Otago has expanded in the past year and now has six staff members with an extended contract, which now also includes providing support to families living with substance misuse issues.
The organisation liaises closely with community mental health teams and other agencies and has an extensive lending library of books and DVDs, which are free to borrow.
SF Central Otago groups co-ordinator Linda Laycock said the supermarket displays provided general information, including what Supporting Families did, who the staff members were and how they could be contacted.
The displays were in Alexandra and Cromwell earlier this week and outside Wanaka New World today and tomorrow.
‘‘There's such a ripple effect around a person [with mental illness],'' Mrs Laycock said.
‘‘And it's not just for families. It can be flatmates, workmates, bosses, club members, anyone who has anything to do with the person with the illness.
‘‘It's helping those people become aware of the fact that mental illness is all around you everywhere because one in five New Zealanders will have a mental illness in their life.
‘‘It's not always doom and gloom, there's always hope of a recovery. That's where we come in. We can help families become resilient.''
