Mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, Alzheimer's, postpartum depression, even compulsive gambling are all disorders of the mind with special support groups to go along with them. The people who attend these support groups, including our own attendance at NAMI, find it easier to discuss their individual problems with others who share the same unique obstacles. This is why we point out to people living with alcoholism that there are groups other than NAMI that can better fill there needs. This is the preferred way of running a support group. The women who make up the Postpartum Depression group would probably agree: separate is better.

Having said that, the goals of the political advocacy wing of NAMI are different than the goals of the folks in NAMI who focus on support and education. As far as getting the political respect we need to produce the results we want (i.e., a larger footprint), having many fragmented groups with different names is counterproductive. In politics, the smaller a group is the easier they are to ignore. State senator Nancy Deter refused to talk to me last year after she heard who I represent. A lobbyist with no money and no visible number of voters is a waste of her time. That sums up the problem.

The solution, from NAMI's point of view, is coalition building. We can make a larger footprint, the kind that can demand attention from politicians, by uniting the many separate support groups into a single lobby. Politicians would have to either hear our point of view or risk being voted out of office. They would be aware of the consequences of ignoring us before we made the appointment to speak with them.