"I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help" — Ten Conversations Across Bartholomew County
When someone you love has a serious mental illness but doesn’t believe they’re sick, knowing how to help is one of the hardest things a family can face. The instinct is to explain what you’re seeing, to present evidence, to try to convince them. But for many families, those conversations lead to frustration on both sides — and over time, the relationship itself can start to suffer.
Dr. Xavier Amador PhD experienced this first-hand. While studying to become a clinical psychologist, his older brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Amador spent years trying to reach him, and years learning how difficult that is when the illness itself prevents someone from recognizing they’re sick. That experience drove him and his colleagues at Columbia University to study why this happens, and what they found changed the field: for many people with serious mental illness, the lack of awareness isn’t a choice. It’s a neurological condition called anosognosia — a physiological inability of the brain to perceive its own illness, and it affects at least 1 in 5 people with serious mental illness (Treatment Advocacy Center).
Amador wrote I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help to give families, professionals, and communities practical tools for reaching people who can’t see their own need for care. This year, our community came together to read, discuss, and learn from it.
Ten Group Book Discussions Across Bartholomew County
Mental Health Matters and NAMI South Central Indiana organized ten book discussion groups between January and March 2026, led by thirteen facilitators in locations across the community. Sessions ran mornings, lunchtimes, afternoons, and evenings. The goal was to make the conversation as accessible as possible, meeting people where they already are.
The facilitators came from across the community too:
Judge Kelly Benjamin and Dr. Rev. Felipe Martinez led the opening session at City Hall
Nannie Abner, a licensed clinical social worker, and Kathy Christoff, Director of Adult Recovery Services at Centerstone, facilitated two sessions at their facility
Jan Kiel, a licensed marriage and family therapist, hosted a discussion over coffee at Lucabe Coffee Co.
Janae Garner-Kelley, the Southern Child Fatality Review Coordinator, and Janice Montgomery, a NAMI Family to Family Leader and community volunteer, led a session at the United Way
Lt. Alyson Eichel facilitated for CIT stakeholders over Zoom
Sheri Nolting, a NAMI Hearts and Minds Leader, led a discussion at the public library
Rev. Todd Riordan hosted at Grace Lutheran Church
The series culminated with a community book read at Mill Race Center, facilitated by Julie Orben of Mental Health Matters alongside Debbie Tyke and Karen Nissen of NAMI
That range was intentional. Mental health touches every part of a community — the justice system, healthcare, faith communities, schools, families. Spreading the discussions across those settings meant parents could sit alongside social workers, first responders alongside faith leaders, educators alongside family members who are navigating this every day.
What Anosognosia Means for Families — and What Can Help
The core challenge Amador’s book addresses is one that families recognize immediately: when someone with a serious mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder doesn’t believe they’re sick, the natural instinct is to try to convince them. But when anosognosia is the reason they don’t recognize their illness, their brain can’t process that information the way we expect it to. The gap between what the family sees and what the person experiences is neurological, and understanding that is the first step toward a different kind of conversation.
Amador’s alternative is the LEAP method: Listen, Empathize, Agree, Partner. It’s an evidence-based communication framework built around maintaining trust and connection even when the person doesn’t see their illness the way their family does. The method teaches people to listen reflectively, find areas of genuine agreement, and build trust over time so that when the person is ready to accept help, the relationship is still intact.
For families who have been trying everything they can think of to help someone they love, having a concrete framework — specific steps, specific language, a method grounded in research — can make an enormous difference. The book also gives professionals, including therapists, case managers, first responders, and peer support specialists, more effective tools for engaging people who may not be ready to accept care.
Why Read It as a Community?
In Bartholomew County, 26% of residents report experiencing fair or poor mental health. Serious mental illness doesn’t affect just the person diagnosed — it affects their family, their coworkers, their neighbors, and every system they interact with. When a community reads the same book, those different perspectives end up in the same room – and that shared understanding is what shifts how a community responds to serious mental illness.
When more people understand what anosognosia is — that it’s neurological, not personal — the stigma around treatment resistance starts to lose its grip. When families have communication tools that meet the reality of what they’re facing, they’re better equipped to stay connected with someone they love through something incredibly difficult. And when professionals and community members are working from the same framework, the support around a person with serious mental illness gets stronger from every direction.
What Comes Next
The ten book discussions are complete, but the work they started continues. If you missed the sessions and want to read the book on your own, copies are available locally at Viewpoint Books and through Amazon.
Thank you to every facilitator who gave their time and expertise to lead these discussions, making this community-wide initiative possible. And thank you to the organizations and spaces that opened their doors to host them: City Hall, Centerstone, Lucabe Coffee Co., United Way of Bartholomew County, Grace Lutheran Church, the Bartholomew County Public Library, and Mill Race Center.
Explore free mental health resources at mhmbc.crediblemind.com and watch our calendar for more upcoming events.