I urge you to vote in favor of the amended bylaws on this year’s APA election ballot. Your positive vote will help ensure that APA continues to move forward in support of our members’ stated priorities.

Over the last two years, the Board of Trustees has made two key decisions to support our Association’s mission. First, 18 months ago, we voted to establish the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education. The institute is now up and running, with its primary goals being the support of two APA strategic priorities: supporting education, training, and career development; and enhancing the scientific basis of psychiatric care.

The second crucial board decision, regarding an initiative also begun 18 months ago, was to begin the process for APA corporate restructuring from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to a 501(c)(6) nonprofit corporation. This reorganization is necessary to allow us to shift our spending priorities to support our other three strategic priorities: advocating for patients, advocating for the profession, and supporting professional values.

Approval of the corporate reorganization requires membership approval of the bylaws change on this year’s ballot. We need a two-thirds majority of voters to pass the proposal, and for the vote to be valid we need one-third of all eligible voters to vote.

Our reorganization could not be coming at a better time than to coincide with the release last month of the first-ever report from the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. David Satcher, on mental health. As you know, the Surgeon General’s reports are the gold standard for authoritative, nonbiased, and nonpolitical public information about health issues.

The Surgeon General’s report brings great news to millions of people with psychiatric disorders and their families and to those who care for them. It is a strong and forceful call to action.

The report is based on a thorough and exhaustive review of more than 3,000 research articles and other materials and relies on strong scientific evidence to reach its conclusions. The report serves to discredit several widespread myths about psychiatric illness by concluding that mental disorders are real illnesses, that there are an effective range of treatments for most mental disorders, and that physical health and mental health are inseparable.

The last chapter of the report sets out an agenda for addressing mental health needs for the new millennium. Dr. Satcher’s eight recommendations are ones that are easy for APA to endorse:

• Continue to build the science base—with an emphasis on both basic science research, ". . .some of the most exciting basic research opportunities in medical science," and on treatment research that spans all modalities of treatment, including the psychotherapies.

• Overcome stigma—to reduce the toll of untreated illness, to improve access and funding for care, to improve the resources available for research, and to encourage those with problems to seek help.

• Improve public awareness of effective treatments—to lead to more informed patient choice and to reduce the burden of untreated illness by fostering the ease of seeking help.

• Ensure the supply of mental health services and clinicians—to improve the availability of care, especially to underserved populations, such as children.

• Ensure delivery of state-of-the-art treatments—to decrease fragmented service systems and improve access to care

• Tailor treatment to age, gender, race, and culture—in recognition of the fact that the most effective treatments are provided in a "culturally competent" manner and to address the current undersupply of mental health professionals who are members of racial or ethnic minorities.

• Facilitate entry into treatment—to ensure the use of multiple "portals of entry" into the treatment system and to enhance the likelihood of staying in treatment until the goals are met.

• Reduce the financial barriers to treatment—to eliminate the unwarranted discrimination in coverage for treatment for psychiatric illnesses, especially resulting from managed care practices in recent years.

The surgeon general begins and ends with a simple message: If you have a mental health problem or think you have symptoms of a mental disorder, seek help right away. What better message at the start of a new century and millennium? Dr. Satcher deserves our highest commendation and ongoing support.