Although there are no Chicago-area support groups specifically for people with seasonal affective disorder, people with this form of depression can find help through regional chapters of the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association (DMDA). According to members, these groups offer unparalleled assistance.
“Those of us in the group look after each other. We listen to each other, and we really care,” said Ed Chase, a member who has SAD and lives in Aurora. “There are a lot of misconceptions about depression and seasonal affective disorder, so it’s good to talk to other people who understand.”
Members of this support group had originally been meeting with a group in Joliet. Three years ago, about half a dozen of them created the Fox Valley DMDA, which meets closer to home at Central Du Page Hospital in Winfield.
Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. One of these meetings is devoted to enabling people with depressive disorders to discuss their concerns and to offer one another encouragement. Family members and friends are welcomed, but these meetings are otherwise closed to the public.
The other monthly meeting, which is open to the public, focuses on education. Guest speakers, including psychiatrists and psychologists, offer information about diagnoses and treatments.
The group, which has grown to about 140 members, publishes a newsletter and has a lending library. Many of the books in this library were purchased with a $1,000 award the group was given last year.
This award, the Abbott Laboratories Chapter Service Award, is given annually to DMDA chapters that demonstrate excellence in education, advocacy, community outreach and leadership. The national DMDA in Chicago sets the award’s criteria and determines which chapters win, while funding comes from Abbott Laboratories, the pharmaceutical giant in north suburban Abbott Park. The other winner last year was the Tampa Bay (Fla.) DMDA.
“The Tampa Bay group had 3,000 members. We only had 70 members when we submitted our entry, and our group was still quite new,” said Blanche M. Jones, executive director of the Fox Valley DMDA. “I was very surprised when we won. I think we were chosen because the people in our group were all working very hard.”
For more information, call the Fox Valley DMDA at 708-859-8035.
