Webinars offer families help withmental illness

‘‘It’s no surprise that there are a lot of people in need of support.’’ John Moore Yellow Brick Road chief operations officer

Families struggling to support those with mental illness are being offered help through a series of online webinars.

The Wellbeing Webinar series are the work of mental health service Yellow Brick Road.

It is designed to give families useful tools for coping in the wake of increased stress from Covid outbreaks.

Yellow Brick Road is a charity supporting the family members of people with mental health challenges.

Chief operations officer John Moore says there are a lot of people struggling right now with the impact of Covid-19 on mental health, or with any number of mental health issues, and the families are often the ‘‘unsung heroes’’ in a person’s journey to wellbeing.

‘‘It’s no surprise that there are a lot of people in need of support,’’ says Moore.

‘‘Getting out to appointments is difficult if people need to isolate, and actually not possible for many people, whether they are more vulnerable or just prefer to stay home right now.

‘‘Now more than ever, we need to get out there and share some of the tips and ideas we would normally share directly with families face-to-face or over the phone. The webinars allow us to reach a very large number of participants in comfort and safety.’’

The series includes a range of topics from coping with emotions, to mindfulness, setting boundaries for relationships with an unwell family member, through to understanding the behaviours associated with borderline personality disorders. Facilitators present information and tips and then respond to questions that participants can message through anonymously.

‘‘It is widely acknowledged that a family member’s support for someone with mental illness is one of the most important contributors to a person’s return to wellbeing,’’ says Moore.

‘‘But many people understandably feel overwhelmed as to what they should do when faced with the challenge of helping someone they care about.

‘‘Hopefully there are a few useful tools people can take away from these free seminars.’’

Each of the four webinars will be delivered twice, via Zoom. Once as a live Zoom and then as a replay, both with trained family/whānau support workers to respond to questions.