Welcome to our other website, Mental Health is For Everyone!

What is DBSA Portland Eastside? We’re an independent chapter of the national Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (www.dbsalliance.org). We’ve been offering weekly drop-in support groups in the Portland metro area since 2005 for peers living with a mental health condition like depression, bipolar, anxiety, or PTSD. The groups are led by one or two of our members who have been trained as facilitators. We’ve been meeting online since COVID. Most of our meetings continue to meet on Zoom but we’re exploring in-person options. Attendance ranges from 10 to 25 people each week for each meeting.

Where can I find info about your groups?  You’ll find detailed info about our support groups and other mental health support groups on our Meetup site: https://www.meetup.com/Portland-Depression-Bipolar-Support-Alliance-Meetup-Group/ or click here

Or would you like our tri-fold brochure with resources, crisis lines and our support group listings? You can download it by clicking clicking here

I live in another state. Can I attend your support groups? Are there other DBSA support groups I can attend in-person or virtually in my state or other states? Absolutely! DBSA has over 400 support groups across the United States. You can find support groups in other states by visiting the DBSA website– click here.  DBSA National also offers many support groups using the Hey Peers platform. These support groups are led by trained peer DBSA facilitators offering support for/to: Grief, Family and Friends, Bipolar, Anxiety, Military Veterans, People of Color, Women’s Support Group, Frontline Workers, Young Adult, Senior Strength and many more. To attend/register/get zoom link, join Hey Peers (no cost to join) https://www.heypeers.com/  Click on ORGANIZATIONS to find all DBSA meetings.

We’re here for YOU!

Our 2021 annual comedy event, Laugh and Learn IV, held Friday, June 18th was a success! For the 4th year, experienced comics from our chapter mentored new comics in weaving their recovery story and journey into a stand up comedy routine.

Will we be making fun of mental health challenges? Absolutely not!

Kelly Wilson, our mentor for our first Laugh and Learn, says,

“While we take mental illness seriously, all of the life that happens around our mental health can get pretty funny. The ridiculous stuff. The stuff that makes no sense, and makes us angry or sad or scared.

The tough stuff is where the funny can be found.”

DBSA Portland Eastside’s “Learn and Laugh” event in October 2018 was a huge success. It was an evening of mental health information and entertainment from our members for 70 of our  members, family, friends, supporters and our mental health community.

The evening showcased our newly trained Stand Up comics whose unique perspectives made everyone seriously laugh.

It was such a success we’re considering making hosting Learn and Laugh 2019 in October!

Thank you to all our volunteers, Comics, Kelly Wilson, Portland Providence for the venue and to our the DBSA members whose weekly contributions in the meetings made this evening possible.