New Directions Support Group

Your premier support group in the Philadelphia area for people with Depression, Bipolar Disorder and their Loved Ones. Call us at 215-659-2366 or email us at Compass123@comcast.net.

Team Leaders include: Ada Moss Fleisher, Ron Abrams, Helen Kirschner, Fontaine Caldwell, Johannes Brahms Ponsen. Carole and Greg Hodges run our Family Member Group. Photo by Greg Hodges, lower right. Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP, director, in her kidney transplant shirt (taking lithium for 16 yrs ruined her kidneys). Read her Lithium post. For other famous people w/mood disorders click here.

Schedule listed Below or on Top Right under Upcoming Events. Or click here.

Please make your donation today! Who else but New Directions writes newspaper editorials to help combat stigma and educate the public. See selection of articles.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit & rely on your generous contributions to serve you. To make a secure, tax-deductible donation click PAYPAL below OR make check payable to “New Directions,” Box 181, Hatboro, PA 19040.

New Directions is registered with the United Way (Donor Choice Number 19628):

See schedule Below OR on Right under Upcoming Events. Contact us at 215-659-2366 or Compass123@comcast.net.

EVENING MEETINGS:

We meet at Abington Presbyterian Church, 1082 Old York Road (Route 611) at Susquehanna, Abington, PA 19001 on the First, Third & Fifth Tuesday of the month from 7:30 to 9:45 pm. Click for directions. Accessible via public transportion.

DAYTIME MEETINGS:

We also meet at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket, 315 York Road, Willow Grove, PA 19090, in an upstairs classroom on the Second and Fourth Thursdays from 10 until noon. Click on Map here.

N E X T M E E T I N G S A N D E V E N T S

Tues., Jan. 3, Meeting at Abington Prez, from 7:30 to 9:45 pm. Read more.

Weds., Jan. 11, Ada’s Outing. Read more.

Thurs., Jan. 12, Daytime Meeting at Giant, from 10 till noon. Read more.

Sun., Jan. 15, Sunday Funday, 11:30 a.m. Read more.

Tues., Jan. 17, Speaker Meeting from 7:30 to 9:45 pm. Tony Salvatore, speaker. Read more.

Thurs., Jan. 26, Daytime Meeting at Willow Grove Giant from 10 until noon. Read more.

We’re Goalsetters! We divide into small groups – bipolar, depression, family members – and set a manageable goal for the next meeting. Peers helping peers.

Just in! The vitamin Deplin may help depression

Click to download The Compass.

LIGHTBOXES chase away winter blues. Read Times story.

ENERGY assistance programs, such as CAP or LIHEAP. Click here.

NEW DIRECTIONS urges timelier treatment for vulnerable patients at Creekwood Mental Health Center. Read more.

WHAT IS Bipolar Disorder? Read this from NIMH.

MED questions? Click here.

OUR BLOG – above – READ JUDY KROLL‘s essay “Bicycling.” Submit your own by emailing us at Compass123@comcast.net.

BOOK REVIEWS BY LINDA BARRETT and others Submit your own.

A booklist from Bipolar Disorder Significant Others.

A HEALTHIER YOU! Nutrition initiative! Overweight or tired from your meds? Make an appt w/Mary Ann Moylan, RD, LDN, CDE of Willow Grove Giant Supermarket by calling 215-784-1960. Press 1, then 4.

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

- Mike’s Hikes & Sunday Excursions

- Ada’s Wednesday Outings

- Sunday Fun Days

- Pursue the Wonderful, things to do on your own or with your ND buddies

ESSENTIAL READING written by us!!! – Who knows better than we do?

Newly Diagnosed with Bipolar or Depression? Tips from Ruth Deming

FOR MORE of our informative writing click here.

Our Meetings

Prepare for a great experience. Our mission is to make you feel comfortable & to answer your concerns on the same day you attend our meeting.

We ask $5 per person and $8 per family. Our large meeting consists of about 40 people.

After our announcements, we break into our small groups – Bipolar Groups, Depression groups, and a Family Member Group, all led by trained leaders.

Attention Family Members! No meeting is complete without Family Members. Greg and Carole Hodges run our Family Member Group.

Complaint Department

Send feedback, both positive and negative, about experiences at Creekwood Mental Health Center, Willow Grove, PA or Abington Memorial Hospital ER Services to:

Rick Fullan, administrative director, mental health and geriatric services, at AMH. RFullan@amh.org OR Nancy Wieman, deputy administrator, Montgomery County Dept of Behavioral Health, Norristown, at Nwieman@montcopa.org.

Dave Mauermann, administrator at Horsham Clinic, would also like constructive criticism. Email him at Dave.Mauermann@uhsinc.com.

We encourage you to SPEAK UP about the treatment you receive. THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

Meds for life? A New Paradigm

Watch Ruth Z Deming, MGPGP, director of New Directions, on YouTube for her 2008 Comcast CN8 interview. She mentions she no longer has bipolar disorder as it often resolves itself later in life.

We encourage people in their fifties and sixties to see if your own illness has resolved itself and you, too, can go off meds. Many psychiatrists are willing to work with you on this. We strongly caution you to work with your doctor.

Growing concern over psychiatric drugs. Do they work? Read Robert Whitaker’s book “Anatomy of an Epidemic.” Again, stay on your meds and talk to your doctor.

NY Review of Books reviews 3 books on rise of mental illness – Why now?

Psychotherapy has often been shown to be as helpful as meds. Read new article here.