Nearly 45 people attended NAMI Four County’s 14th annual Candlelight Vigil for Mental Health on Sunday as the kick-off to Mental Health Awareness Week. Following the program, many of those attending participated in a one mile walk from the church across the Defiance College campus to the banner along Clinton Street in Defiance. Also, during the week, the local NAMI chapter distributed 5,000 mental health awareness bookmarks through the public libraries in Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding and Williams counties. The bookmarks had messages such as: “ The human brain is an organ just like the heart or kidney and it can get a disease…just like a heart attack or diabetes. Mental illness is a brain disease…and it can be treated.” Or, another has a picture of a young family and says: “Hi, my name is Robert and I have a mental illness. I am active, I hold a job, and I have a family. I don’t let my mental illness define me. Can you do the same?” The bookmarks also have information about the local NAMI chapter as well as the state and national organizations. The 60 minute program from the Candlelight Vigil, featuring NAMI Ohio executive director Terry Russell, was taped and will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays on TV-26 through Saturday, October 26.
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