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The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has created dramatic public service announcements portraying the fears associated with obsessive-compulsive, panic, and post-traumatic stress disorders that began airing on television and radio stations last month. The PSA's are designed to inform the public about anxiety disorders and the fact that there is a variety of effective treatments available for them.
"Many of the 23 million Americans with anxiety disorders continue to suffer because of stigma and the widespread lack of understanding that these are brain disorders, as responsive to treatment as other medical disorders," said NIMH Director Steven E. Hyman, M.D.
At a news conference in Washington, D.C., on April 7, Hyman described recent advances in neuroscience that have revealed how and where memories of fear are stored in the brain, and how traumatic experience alters brain structure.
"Our hope is that knowledge of brain dysfunction will lead to the development of highly targeted treatments that will greatly improve the lives of people with severe anxiety disorders," he said.
The PSA's are part of the NIMH Anxiety Disorders Education Program launched in October 1996. The announcements and other information about anxiety disorders are available on the NIMH Anxiety Disorders Web site at www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety. NIMH also provides information about these disorders through a toll-free number, 1-88-88-ANXIETY.