NAMI DC

The purpose of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Washington, DC, known also as NAMI DC, is to support and educate family, friends, caregivers, the public, and persons with a diagnosis of serious mental disorder and to advocate for the development of services.

NAMI DC was founded in 1981 by Family Members of persons suffering from Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) NAMI DC is a nonprofit, grassroots organization and is the District of Columbia affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nami). Membrship is open to all residents of the Washington Metropolitan area.

Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) is the greatest cause of disability in the United States, well ahead of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined.  Severe mental illnesses - such as schizophrenia, clinical depression, bipolar illness (manic depression), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, hoarding, PTSD and borderline personality disorder - afflict one in four families in the United States. 

Recovery is possible with the proper treatment and support.  Medication relieves the most acute symptoms for most of those who have those diseases.  Appropriate care and rehabilitation, however, are critical, but not often adequately provided.  Anosognosia, the inability to discern that one is ill, often stands in the way.

NAMI DC provides information and emotional support in free weekly support group meetings to help family members, friends, and  consumers in recovery by allowing them to relate their struggles with mental illness in a caring environment.

Members, the public, and officers of the DC police department, are educated thru free Crisis Intervention Training, Family-To-Family classes, a quarterly newsletter, and conferences, on issues related to brain disorders.

Resources for people with brain disorders are poorly managed and grossly inadequate, resulting in the criminalization of the mentally ill, with 500,000 persons suffering from mental illness incarcerated at any given time, with another 500,000 on probation.  Through our organization, family members, friends and consumers can advocate for better services and treatment by public agencies and the criminal justice system.

Discrimination and stigma limit all aspects of life for people with brain disorders, including employment, housing, health and other types of insurance, education and personal relationships.  Members challenge negative stereotypes, demand fair public policies, and confront discrimination.