Growing Up With Schizophrenia Coming to Terms With a Sister's Illness
Before her first breakdown, my older sister and I shared a bedroom. We fought as siblings fight, and played as siblings play, but we were different. She was shy and studious, I was boisterous and gregarious. She was neat, I was messy. I wished that I could be blond and thin like her and I was jealous of her musical talent and intellectual precocity. But we were sisters.
Susan Hirsch has been active as a member of NAMI since 1992. She has been the facilitator of the Uptown Family Support Group for NAMI NYC Metro (formerly AMI-FAMI) since 1992. In 1998 she received the Volunteer of the Year Award at NAMI-NYC METRO at their Annual Awards Celebration.
As a sibling, she has been active in having the sibling voice heard. She was on the planning committee for the Sibling Conference in Spring of 1996 : Behind Closed Doors: The Impact of Severe Mental Illness on Adult Siblings. She has since become the President of NAMI - CARES, a Consortium for Advocacy, Research and Education, whose membership consists of family members, consumers, mental health professionals and researchers. NAMI-CARES is planning the next sibling conference to be held in Manhattan in May of 2000. For further information and to be put on the mailing list, please write Susan Hirsch, NAMI-CARES, 610 West 110 St. #3D, New York, New York 10025.