MARQUETTE — Family members and friends of individuals with a mental illness may benefit from a 12-week “Family to Family” education course to be offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, Alger/Marquette.

The series of free and confidential classes will be 6 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Tuesdays from Feb. 11 through April 28 at 129 W. Baraga Ave. in Marquette.

The course will cover a broad range of topics, including information about schizophrenia; mood disorders such bipolar disorder and major depression; panic disorder; obsessive compulsive disorder; and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

This will be the 16th time this class has been offered in the area and is presented by trained educators.

The course is designed specifically for parents, siblings, spouses, teenage and adult children, significant others and friends of people with a mental illness. This course also helps people understand this is an illness and not something they can just “deal with it, shape up,” as most times they have no control over their actions.

Responses from previous family members who took the class are: “I feel the course has saved my family,” “I no longer blame myself for my child’s illness,” “This course has given me a broader understanding of the diagnosis and more comfort in speaking about this to others.”

To register for the classes, call by Feb. 11 or sooner to confirm the start date.

For more information or to register, call 906-235-0231, 906-458-1547 or 906-360-7107.