NAMI 2007 Convention: An Interview with Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia

Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia

Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, M.D. is a clinical psychiatrist and the outgoing President of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She founded and operates an independent mental health clinic in Beaver, Pennsylvania. She is also a clinical assistant professor at Western Psychiatric Institute, and is on the faculty of two community hospitals. In addition, Dr. Vogel-Scibilia is a consultant for psychopharmacology projects at the National Institute of Mental Health. She speaks throughout the country on many topics for NAMI affiliates. She has also run a NAMI-CARE, a NAMI-CAN and a Bipolar Support group and has been a teacher for the NAMI Peer-to-Peer program and a speaker for Family-to-Family. She has had bipolar disorder since she was a teenager.

RC: What are some of the highlights during your time as President of the NAMI Board?

SVS: I've really had a great time. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve the people of NAMI who voted in our whole board... I think that our board is a working board. It's very committed, passionate and very, very cohesive... You know, NAMI is an organization that's big. There are 220,000 members. People have all different view points. NAMI has always been very welcoming of people with different viewpoints about mental illness. It's not like we're just an insular organization. People really get together on our board even if we have spirited discussions, we go with the majority vote, the democratic way, and throw ourselves into the cause. I think we've really done a lot of things to solidify our security to be able to really do what we want to do and help people with mental illness because these are very difficult times. It's like the old Chinese curse -- may you live in interesting times. There are so many things - parity laws, Medicaid cuts, Medicare changes, housing cuts, and housing changes. There are all the issues around formularies and access and services. It's a very difficult time to be a consumer with a mental illness.

And we did a really good job coming up with a strategic plan that has point by point what we want to accomplish between now and 2010. Then we ended up keying our budget to make sure that everything is funded and funded adequately. So we will be able to accomplish what we want to accomplish and we can stay focused on what we do well.

RC: It's my understanding that NAMI is the only organization that includes both family members and consumers.

SVS. That's true. And we also have a lot of people who are providers and friends. The four categories [of NAMI membership] are family members, consumers, providers, and friends.

RC: You're in all four categories.

SVS. I'm in all four. Almost all my friends are people with mental illness simply because what I do with most of my free time with my friends is mental health advocacy. It's nice too because you have someone who is a friend who understands the issues that you have... I think that that's one thing about being a consumer and, in my case, a consumer/provider. Within NAMI there are a lot of people who are in the same shoes that I am... It's very helpful to have a peer group, and a very positive peer group. You know, it is very much a family. We say that mental illness affects families, but NAMI is also a family.