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Upward of 3,000 people who suffer from mental illness or care about the mentally ill talked the talk by walking the walk on Saturday, May 2, in Washington, D.C.
The walk was a one-mile event-"Walk the Walk for Lives Touched by Mental Illness"-cosponsored by APA and 19 other patient, advocacy, and professional organizations. It was the first-ever march on Washington for and with people with mental illness.
In addition to psychiatrists, patients, family members, and advocates of the mentally ill, the crowd included such officials as Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D.; Nelba Chavez, Ph.D., administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Steven Hyman, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health; and Steven M. Mirin, M.D., APA medical director.
The event's honorary cochairs were Tipper Gore, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala.
Although the day was one of a 12-day streak of rain in the nation's capitol, the wet did not dampen the crowd's enthusiasm in getting their message across to the media and tourists who happened to be sightseeing in the area that day. That message was intended to help dispel misconceptions about mental illness, gain equal treatment for people with mental illness, and celebrate mental health, according to Bernard Arons, M.D., director of the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, another sponsor of the event.