MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) West Virginia held an open house for Mental Health Awareness month on Saturday.
The DBSA offers many different resources for those struggling with mental health disorders, in which they are:
- Free Meetings
- Family Support
- Veteran Support
- Free Literature
- Depression Support
- Bipolar Support
As she talked about the resources her facility has to offer, Lynne Vespoint, president of DBSA WV, said, “everything is free, all our literature, we have meetings throughout the state, and the support group meetings are for anyone with depression, bipolar disorder, or their family friends, loved ones, anyone. So for heaven’s sake, dbsawv.org, find a meeting near you, and if there isn’t one, start one.”
Vespoint started facilitating in 2016, but they have been in the Morgantown facility since September, located in the Mountaineer Mall, and opened in January. She has said that events like these are “important because mental disorders are stigmatized in society,” and believes that they need to get the word out. At the open house, there was a student art exhibit, door prizes, snacks, beverages, and community support.
Towards the end, the alliance showcased a special room called “Andrea’s Room.” This room was in memory of Denver Snyder’s daughter, Andrea Snyder. Snyder always put everyone else above herself, and was constantly buying things for others, taking them out, and was just an all around good person. She struggled with depression, and her family could not believe it could harm somebody that was so happy.
Synder took his daughter to places for treatment and would bring her home. After getting home, she would spend the rest of the day in bed, her depression only getting worse. Andrea Snyder tried different medications, but nothing seemed to help. Denver Snyder talked about how medication does not work for everyone and said, “it’s good if anybody can get any help, which there is help. I worked for a pharmaceutical company, we made medicine there for depression. And, there is medicine out there, you just gotta try and get on one. Medicine does work, but you gotta give it a chance.”
When Andrea Snyder passed away, her obituary contained the donation link for the DBSA organization. They received a ton of donations through her obituary and they even sold t-shirts. “Andrea’s Room” was put into the facility in remembrance of her. The doors to her room have seafood green curtains, and the sign had a mermaid on it, because those were a couple of her favorite things.
The DBSA is holding a conference coming up in the summer, but the venue is still to be determined. You can find more information and a way to donate here.
