While the National Alliance on Mental Illness strives to advocate for the needs of those affected by mental illness, the president of the local chapter also wanted her audience at the Rose Theatre to know her group promotes hope.

NAMI of Jefferson County partnered with the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend on Nov. 3 to observe Mental Health Awareness Week and offered a free screening of “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” the 2010 film adaptation of the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini.

“It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is a fictional comedy-drama told from the perspective of Craig Gilner (played by Keir Gilchrist), an overachieving 16-year-old high school student who checks himself into a hospital’s psychiatric floor because of persistent suicidal thoughts.

“It took us a long time to screen the right movie because we wanted it to have a hopeful message and a relatively accurate representation of mental illness,” said Valerie Phimister, the president of NAMI of Jefferson County. “And we were glad to do it here. Rocky Friedman does so much for this community, and everyone loves the Rose Theatre.”

Phimister acknowledged the challenge of encapsulating a week of inpatient psychiatric care in barely more than an hour and a half of screen time, but she cited her own experiences of visiting family members in mental health hospitals and noted the parts of the film she deemed accurate.

“You’re often rooming with people who don’t share the same type of diagnosis as you,” Phimister said. “There are individual and group counseling sessions, along with arts, music and athletic activities. There are programs designed to help you move back into the community.”

Phimister singled out the character of Bobby, a suicidal father played by Zach Galifianakis, who undergoes a screening interview to apply for transitional housing after his inpatient care ends.

“They try to find a place for these people so they’re not homeless,” Phimister said. “Every state in the union offers different programs, but housing is an issue everywhere.”

“Especially in Jefferson County,” one audience member called out.

Phimister also pointed out the film portrayed teenage patients such as Craig and Noelle (played by Emma Roberts), who’s under care for self-harm, receiving care alongside adult patients.

“They should have been in care specifically for adolescents, but every facility is different,” said Phimister, who named the adolescent inpatient psychiatric services at Fairfax Hospital in Kirkland as among the only facilities in the state specifically targeted to those needs.

Phimister also pointed to Craig’s parents as both positive and negative examples of how family members can respond to mental illness. While Craig’s mother, played by Lauren Graham, offers her son support and seeks the counsel of mental health professionals, his father, played by Jim Gaffigan, continues to pressure Craig to apply to a prestigious summer school that’s been the source of much of his anxiety.

“The family’s response is critical,” Phimister said. “That’s why NAMI helps families navigate these systems. The mental health system is very different from the rest of the health care system.”

Phimister agreed with another audience member who suggested many young people resort to suicide due to pressures similar to those Craig faced in the film.

“We have statistics showing that children as young as 7 years old have completed suicides,” Phimister said.

Jennifer Brinch, a board member with NAMI of Jefferson County, identified “creative people” as being susceptible to depression and mental illness, in reference to how Craig discovers an affinity for creating visual art during his inpatient care.

“The brain is very mysterious,” Brinch said. “There’s so much we still don’t know.”

“But there is hope,” Phimister said.