The American Psychiatric Association Alliance (APAA) gratefully acknowledges that for the second consecutive year the American Psychiatric Foundation has generously granted full funding of the APA Alliance’s "When Not to Keep a Secret" Essay Project for ninth and 10th graders. This project teaches students to break a confidence and to trust an important adult in their lives when they hear talk of violence or suicide. It is designed to create awareness that violent talk can lead to violent behavior. The essay project directly responds to Surgeon General David Satcher’s "Call to Action to Prevent Suicide."

The project is flexible and can target other specific mental health needs in a community, such as eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, or child abuse in any form. It is a vehicle to bring psychiatrists into the schools; to educate students, parents, teachers, and others about psychiatric issues; and to recognize youth at risk. It teaches that early detection and intervention are important, that treatment is available, and that treatment works.

Now, due in large part to the support of the American Psychiatric Foundation, the essay project is gaining recognition throughout the United States. Resource materials from APA and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry are being integrated. Organizations with similar goals are collaborating with the APA Alliance and sharing endorsements.

If you would like more information regarding this very worthy project, please contact Alicia Muñoz, APAA president-elect and the committee chair of the essay project, at aamunoz@aol.com.

Gail Fuller

President

APA Alliance