Mental health group, tourney offer support

By Justin A. Cohn

The Journal Gazette

Chip Novak has been in the public eye because of his golf talent, but few know his life has been marked by schizoaffective disorder, a condition that exhibits symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorder.

One reason he chose to speak openly now is his wish to help others. On Sept. 20, the second Chip Novak Open golf tournament will take place at The Fort Wayne Elks Golf Club to raise money for the Fort Wayne chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

“I think there are a lot of people who are depressed or have a problem, and they don’t know it,” Novak said. “Confronting a person with a mental illness can be tough. They can be violent. When you’re in that state, you don’t want to deal with it.”

NAMI, a volunteer organization, has had a profound influence on the Novak family. When Chip’s mother, Jane, had no one to turn to at the height of Chip’s illnesses in 1985, NAMI offered her guidance.

“I didn’t feel I needed a support group, and I never sought out anything like that,” said Jane Novak, who attended a NAMI meeting at the urging of acquaintances in the organization. “I talked about my son and ended up crying so hard that night as I tried sharing my story with a few intimate people. I didn’t know I had so much bottled up inside of me. I was convinced as I left that night that I would be back forever. It was such an incredible feeling. They gave me a gift. I knew I was going to become a member and be a good volunteer.”

NAMI’s missions are threefold: support, education and advocacy.

Even 25 years after the inception of the Fort Wayne chapter, NAMI is struggling to gain community awareness. There still is a stigma with mental illness and people don’t want to talk about it, said Teresa Hatten, president of NAMI of Fort Wayne.

NAMI’s classes and support groups are guided by people living with mental illness or those who have felt its effects. They teach others they are not alone in facing mental illness.

“They are people who totally understood every word I was saying, did not question anything about what I was saying,” said Jane Novak, 80. “They knew these were true experiences and true feelings. I found people like myself who understood what a maze it can be.

“Everybody else I knew, whenever I would say my son has a mental illness, they would give you strange looks and ask dumb questions and say, ‘You know, why can’t Chip get on with his life?’ They were not knowing or understanding. This group of people (at NAMI), they understood because they knew what I was living through.”

Hatten hopes the Novaks’ successes will compel others living with mental illness to come to NAMI.

“As much as we think we’re out in the community, we’re still a secret, and people are amazed to find there are people dealing with the same issues they’re dealing with,” Hatten said. “They continue to come, and what they find is they want to stay and help others. That’s how we maintain our base. People are so thrilled to find they are not the only person in the world dealing with this. They want to help others.”

Hatten said Chip Novak should serve as a role model to others because he’s gotten steady work, succeeded as an athlete and found a medical regimen that has helped.

“The message that we look at Chip and see is that treatment is possible, treatment works, recovery is possible,” Hatten said. “It’s not a sentence to life without meaning. These illnesses sock you, but get treatment and recovery is possible.”

Schizophrenia affects about 1 percent of the population worldwide, including more than 2 million Americans. The numbers of those with schizoaffective disorder are about the same.

There is evidence it’s hereditary, said Dr. Jay Fawver, a professor of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

“And the pretty interesting part is these are not just Western industrialized types of (illnesses). They’re across the world. They’re across color or economic status,” Hatten said. “You’re talking, at least two people in every hundred are dealing with the serious (mental illnesses).”

Novak is a rarity in that he’s been able to succeed in sports while living with his schizoaffective disorder. Fawver said that’s because schizophrenia usually begins at a young age – with males around 16 and females around 24 – and gets progressively worse as brain tissue is destroyed.

“With male athletes, their careers often end in high school because schizophrenia makes it difficult for them to progress further in life,” said Fawver, who has treated Chip Novak for nine years and believes medication has stabilized his illness. “It stops them in their tracks. That’s why you don’t hear about many professional athletes with it.”

More and more, professional athletes are talking about mental illness. In recent years, people such as NBA player Kendall Gill have talked about their struggles. It would help others if more of them did so, said Dr. Richard Lustberg, a New York psychologist who runs www.psychologyofsports.com.

“I think we are moving forward very slowly,” Lustberg said. “Even in the general population, people have shame about mental illness. When (former NFL player) Joe Theismann’s bone was sticking out of his leg, no one questioned him. But when Kendall Gill came out and said he had depression, people said, ‘But you don’t look ill. You look fine.’ ”

Fawver, who has a practice in Fort Wayne, lauded the efforts of local facilities that deal with mental illness such as the Park Center and the Carriage House. He hopes that in some respects Chip Novak becomes the model for others dealing with mental illness – not many people with schizophrenia have positive activities such as golf that ground them throughout their lives.

“It’s the same type of exploration of assets we should do with anyone who has an illness,” Fawver said. “I think in 2006 what we’re doing in psychiatry is not focusing on what people can’t do, but focusing on what people can do. If we find something that somebody likes to do, like golf in Chip’s case, it provides confidence and motor skills.”