CureSZ, A Foundation Making a Difference For People With Schizophrenia and Their Families, Led by Bethany Yeiser, BS and Dr. Henry Nasrallah
For some time, I have been a part of CureSZ, an organization that serves people with schizophrenia and their families. This post is regarding a wonderful opportunity to ask a psychiatrist anything
Dr Matcheri Keshavan. His Ask the Doctor event is on April 7th
Well Dear Readers, I wanted to share some information regarding a nonprofit that aligns with my desire to increase awareness and decrease stigma surrounding mental illness, and even goes further than that to help get people treatment and support. I first need to explain a bit about the person that founded this organization, called CureSZ, (Comprehensive Understanding via Research and Education into Schizophrenia). Her name is Bethany Yeiser, and up until a key point in her life during college, she was an over-achiever, an exemplary student, a globetrotting philanthropist hoping to bring relief to people in the third world, as well as being a world-class violinist. At some point Bethany began to slip into psychosis. After a time of psychosis and paranoia, her life spun out of control, and she wouldn’t even accept help from her family, unaware of the risks and drawbacks that come with being homeless. Bethany was a homeless person in Los Angeles for a long time, but her parents never gave up on her. As an amazing testament to unconditional love, with eventual intervention, Bethany ended up getting the treatment she needed for her psychosis.
With the help of a medication called Clozapine and the unwavering support of her psychiatrist, Dr. Henry Nasrallah, she wrote a book about her recovery. Bethany’s mom wrote an additional book following the same timeline, giving readers an incredible insight into the ravages of schizophrenia and how it often destroys families. After her treatment, Bethany went back to school, received her degree, and founded a mental health nonprofit organization that has helped countless people heal from their maladies or helped their loved ones find ways to support and help a family member with an illness. I feel these books are essential reading for any parent of a child (often adult children as schizophrenia generally occurs in a person’s late teens to early 20s) living with schizophrenia or any psychosis disorder. Bethany’s first book was “Mind Estranged”
Both of these books can be found on Amazon in both the Canadian and American stores. (links at the very bottom of this email) More on Bethany soon. I first wanted to mention an incredible resource available from CureSZ, called the “Ask the Doctor Series” in which guest psychiatrists will spend 90 minutes with up to six families to answer anything they want to know about their loved one’s mental health condition. These events happen every month, usually on the second Monday at 7pm EST. There is a suggested donation of $250 USD to attend, which is actually the only thing that the CureSZ foundation asks money for. The donation is suggested, not mandatory. I personally am on the advisory panel of a family group that meets every two weeks on Zoom, which is totally free, and I also receive a free newsletter from CureSZ. If you want to register for the upcoming “Ask the Doctor Series” with Dr Matcheri Keshavan, you can donate to CURESZ here. You can also register for the “Ask the Doctor Series” using the CURESZ contact form, here.
If you wanted to just get in contact with CureSZ to find out more information about the many services offered, use the CURESZ contact form to express interest: https://curesz.org/contact-us/
Testimony, From Geri, regarding “Ask the Doctor Series”:
“A million thank you’s for inviting me to attend the event yesterday evening. To have an opportunity to speak directly to the doctor, to recommend coaching techniques on how to approach my daughter was beyond what I was expecting and have been hoping for the past several years! You were absolutely correct, about the information received listening to other attendees’ questions and to then have Susan offer advice from her own experiences was so compassionate. CURESZ has revitalized hope in me.”
Just as a quick follow-up to the mention of the book Bethany wrote, her mother’s book can be found on amazon as well, the cover looks like this:
Lastly, (except for the links) Bethany and Dr. Nasrallah have collaborated on a book called “Awakenings” where a number of people who have recovered from schizophrenia have written chapters of their own stories (me included) as well as giving much helpful information about schizophrenia and psychosis.
Links: (Canadian)
“Awakenings” https://a.co/d/3yVDjNe
“Mind Estranged” https://a.co/d/5LrSAbo
“Flight From Reason” https://a.co/d/dz7qSZk
American links:
“Awakenings” https://a.co/d/hCxo7Rt
“Mind Estranged” https://a.co/d/gGCKHw8
“Flight From Reason” https://a.co/d/4KlalG9