The son of Dr. Dawn Mehra, DVM, spent his 21st birthday in a psych ward at Kootenai Health Behavioral Health in Coeur d’Alene.

When he suffered a psychotic event two years earlier, Mehra’s family was thrown into a world filled with unknowns, concerns and isolation. Those feelings of isolation and grief drove their lives, searching for answers and treatment.

“We didn’t know the world we were entering,” Mehra said. “You name the emotion and we had it, it was a rollercoaster ride of so much unknown and so many hard times.”

That journey led Mehra and her family to find the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grassroots organization focused on bettering the lives of people who suffer from mental illness. Mehra now serves on the board of directors for NAMI’s Far North chapter based in Sand

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