Email
Print
New mood disorder support group starts
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 28, 2009
Updated: 03/28/2009 11:17 am
To say living with a mood disorder is challenging is an understatement.
To live with it alone, or to feel like you are the only one in the world with a mood disorder, can be excruciating.
That's why Concord resident Tina Kennon is reaching out to others with mood disorders. She is starting a new support group for people who suffer mood disorders and their family and friends.
Kennon is starting a local chapter of Depression Bipolar Support Alliance.
"I wanted to find a group for myself, and the closest one was in Charlotte," Kennon said. "There wasn't one in Concord and I thought, 'Someone has to do something about this.'"
Kennon said she decided she was the one to start the group herself.
Depression Bipolar Support Alliance is a national organization that does support, community outreach, education and advocacy for people with mood disorders. Local chapters offer support group meetings and do community outreach and education about mood disorders, Kennon said.
"The group is to share, to listen, to learn," Kennon said. "It's for support."
Dr. Karen Green is a local psychiatrist and professional adviser for the new support group. She said it is not a therapy group, but a place where people who suffer from mood disorders can go to connect with others going through the same thing.
"If you are dealing with depression or bipolar, you can feel isolated and alone," Green said. "Doctors like to refer people to groups like this so they can hear from others you are going through the same thing."
A lot of the support groups are in Charlotte, Green said, so it's not convenient for people to drive 30 or 40 miles for meetings.
"This is really good because there's isn't much up here," Green said.
Because DBSA is a national group, they offer support to local chapters, Kennon said. There are online seminars for group leaders and it tracks the latest medical research on depression and mood disorders.
The group will meet every Wednesday at Diversity Den Cafe, in the Wal-Mart shopping center on U.S. 29 in Concord, starting April 1.
The owner, Joyce Saint-Cyr, has offered private meeting space for the group, Kennon said.
She is hoping to attract 15 people for the first meeting.
"I'd love to have 30, but 15 is a good number to start off with," Kennon said.
• Contact reporter Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Click a region for news specific to that area.
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
Advertisement
