Talking About Mental Health Saves Lives
A Q&A with Pamela Eyring, President of the Board of Directors, NAMI South Carolina
As a country-wide organization, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness.
In January, the National Alliance on Mental Illness South Carolina (NAMI SC) announced the election of Pamela Eyring as President of the Board of Directors
Working within South Carolina, NAMI SC advances mental health through education, support, advocacy, and public awareness, ensuring individuals and families are not alone in navigating mental health challenges.
As Board President, Pamela will provide strategic leadership and governance oversight in partnership with fellow board members, supporting the organization’s mission, fiscal responsibility, and long-term vision for statewide impact.
In today’s Q&A, Pamela shares why her advocacy is deeply personal. After losing her son following his experience with bipolar disorder, she became aware of NAMI and the life-changing power of its education, peer-led programs, and family support resources - services she wishes her family had known about earlier in his mental health journey. This lived experience fuels her commitment in her new role at NAMI SC to help expand access to timely, compassionate, and practical support for individuals and families across South Carolina and to encourage community leaders across the US to become aware of NAMI’s mission to help prioritize mental health care and awareness on a national level.
Q1: Why is your role as President of the Board of Directors for NAMI South Carolina an important mission at this time?
Pamela: Silence costs lives, and stigma keeps that silence in place.
My son Jacob died just before his 21st birthday. Like so many families, we loved deeply, sought medical care, and trusted the systems meant to help. What we lacked was an open conversation, shared understanding, or community-based support that included the family. I learned about NAMI not through a clinician or care provider, but after my son’s death, when I was asked to choose a charity in lieu of flowers at his funeral.
That moment changed everything for me.
I have now served on the NAMI South Carolina Board for seven years as a volunteer, and during that time, I have learned far more than I ever wanted to know about how fragmented and broken our mental health system can be. At the same time, I have witnessed what is possible when committed people step forward. Our board is an extraordinary mix of advocates, professionals, caregivers, veterans, and community leaders who deeply understand this mission and work tirelessly to move it forward.
Mental illness thrives in isolation and misunderstanding. Talking about it without shame, without labels, and without oversharing medical details is how we begin to protect those we love. Speaking up is not about telling everyone your private story; it is about standing up for those who may not yet have the strength or words to stand up for themselves.
Despite the challenges, I am encouraged. I have seen bipartisan political leaders, community partners, and institutions across South Carolina step forward to advocate for mental health access and support. When mental health rises above politics and is treated as the human issue it is, lives are changed and saved.
Q2: How has NAMI South Carolina been an important part of your own family’s journey?
Pamela: NAMI became important to my family after loss, not before, and that reality shapes everything I do in this volunteer role.
When Jacob was alive, we were engaged with doctors and psychiatrists, yet no one ever suggested NAMI programs for our family. No one explained that there were peer-led classes, support groups, and education designed specifically for families navigating mental illness together. That gap mattered.
Families are often left out of the mental healthcare equation, even though they are the ones providing daily support, advocacy, and care. NAMI changes that. It meets families where they are with compassion, education, lived experience, and hope.
My commitment is to ensure families learn about NAMI early, not in hindsight. Support should not be discovered after tragedy; it should be offered as part of care, conversation, and community from the very beginning.
In my experience, what we don’t know can hurt us. What we choose to learn can save lives.
Q3: How can communities across South Carolina, where you live, best utilize NAMI SC’s resources?
Pamela: The most powerful thing communities can do is make NAMI visible and normal. I talk about my experience with loss and tell people about NAMI services all the time. I have people telling others and even contacting me for guidance. That’s my service gratitude to pay it forward.
Employers, universities, government agencies, military organizations, healthcare systems, and community leaders should integrate NAMI resources into employee wellness programs, HR communications, student services, veteran outreach, and community education.
Most importantly, doctors, clinicians, and care teams must actively refer patients and families to NAMI programs. Medication and clinical care matter, but they are not enough on their own. NAMI fills the space between diagnosis and daily life, and that space is often where people either find stability or fall through the cracks.
When organizations proactively share these resources, they create a culture in which asking for help is normal, and lives are protected long before a crisis occurs.
Q4: Why is now a crucial time to prioritize mental health across workplaces, schools, and healthcare?
Pamela: Because the need is urgent and the cost of delay is too high. I want other families and friends not to feel the pain I have had to experience. Ever.
Young adults and veterans continue to face disproportionately high risks related to mental illness and suicide. Many individuals who struggle have interacted with healthcare systems, workplaces, or educational institutions but never received the community-based support that could have made a difference.
Mental health cannot live only in exam rooms or emergency departments. It must live in workplaces, classrooms, families, faith communities, and peer networks. NAMI exists to strengthen those everyday environments where people actually live and work.
From a leadership perspective, supporting NAMI is both a moral responsibility and a smart investment in workforce stability, community resilience, and human dignity.
Executive Call to Action: Share These Mental Health Resources
Mental health support saves lives when people know where to turn.
NAMI South Carolina provides free, evidence-based education, peer-led programs, family support, and community outreach across South Carolina.
Key Programs:
• Family-to-Family
• Peer-to-Peer
• Ending the Silence youth initiatives
• Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training
• Community education and advocacy
Website: www.namisc.org
Crisis Support Resources:
NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
South Carolina Community Crisis Response & Intervention Line (CCRI): 833-364-2274 (24/7)
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or Text 988 (24/7 nationwide)
For information on NAMI’s services nationally, visit www.nami.org.