For 17 years, APA has sponsored Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) during the first week of October. This year, it will be held from October 1 to 7. During this time, APA district branches, local psychiatric facilities, churches, schools, and local mental health coalitions across the country will participate.

What does MIAW involve? There will be education, depression screening, and media and public policy programs. The message the participants want to send is that mental illnesses are real, diagnosable, and treatable.

According to Michael Blumenfield, M.D, chair of the APA Joint Commission on Public Affairs, "Mental Illness Awareness Week offers our colleagues an excellent opportunity to remind decision makers and the public that mental illnesses are real, that treatment is effective, and that health insurance plans should provide coverage for mental illness treatment equal to that for other medical illnesses."

Other mental health agencies and advocacy organizations that will participate include the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and 340 local Mental Health America (NMHA) affiliates will participate in National Depression Screening Day on October 5.

The organization Screening for Mental Health, Inc., coordinates National Depression Screening Day, with support from APA. There will be screening sessions held at 3,000 sites across the country, including hospitals, mental health clinics, colleges, and for the first time, high schools.

Daniel Borenstein, M.D., president of APA, praises the effectiveness of MIAW-sponsored events and publicity. "In its 17 years, Mental Illness Awareness Week has successfully brought the plight of those suffering from mental illness to the attention of the public," he stated. "Politicians and the general population are significantly better informed about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and the availability of effective treatment" thanks to these events and activities.

In order to get certain groups involved in outreach efforts associated with MIAW, APA sends specialized packets to media, clergy, educators, librarians, and policy makers with discipline-specific information about how to organize events for MIAW. Included with these packets are fact sheets about psychiatric treatments, illnesses, and various aspects of care.

APA will continue to conduct education and destigmatization efforts until its goals of increasing understanding about mental illness and the people who suffer from it are achieved. Said Borenstein, "Although Mental Illness Awareness Week has resulted in a decrease in the stigma attached to mental illness, APA will not relax its efforts until psychiatric disorders are considered in the same way as other medical illnesses."