This week marks Mental Illness Awareness Week. Mental Illness Awareness Week was approved by Congress in honor of the work being done by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) back in 1990. Founded in 1979, "NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of person's living with serious mental illness and their families."[1] NAMI continues to work passionately and tirelessly through advocacy, research, support and education to not only work toward eradicating mental illness, but in the meantime, generating awareness through education to eliminate ignorance, stigma and discrimination.[2]
Initiating a recognition week produces a swell of added awareness each year, and with it, more information is within reach for those who experience the symptoms of mental illness but may not realize their symptoms are due to a chemical imbalance (and who perhaps thought their mood response was due to their own failings). Perhaps 2007 will be another person's year to end a lifetime of self-reproach!
Equally important, this may be the week for those who have yet to take the time to consider what mental illness really looks like and not take their own mental health for granted. Perhaps 2007 will be another person's year to end a lifetime of ignorance!
Moving beyond ignorance is key and this is why the objects and aims of Mental Illness Awareness Week are so very important. For those of us who know all too well about the need for education and awareness first hand, I believe one of the greatest opportunities for us at the individual level is to promote open and honest discussion. Taking heed of what patient expert Teri Robert suggested about wearing the silver ribbon mental illness recognition pin is a great way to generate inquiry. Wearing the pin is a way to identify ourselves as approachable to ask questions or seek knowledge. As more opportunities for discussion present themselves, more people will seek treatment and/or step out of ignorance and into understanding and compassion.
As individuals, we can work together with NAMI and other advocacy organizations by choosing to be an integral part of the accurate and informative discussions that take place about mental illness. Our attitudes toward mental illness have significant impact on those around us: how we express ourselves, and how we share our experiences one on one with others will only support the education necessary to achieve the outcomes we all desire. Removing the stamp of stigma is something we all can participate in. (Of course, staying mindful of the labels we place on ourselves is imperative to achieve the outcomes we desire in society.)
In our discussions with others, it is also important to keep in mind that ignorance about mental illness may not be a conscious reaction by those who have never experienced changes in mood beyond their personal control due to mental illness. They may simply not be able to comprehend the magnitude of what this feels like or it's full impact on daily life. For our part, appreciating their lack of first hand knowledge gained from experience needs to come into play. Often, if an illness does not touch their own personal lives, their investment in knowledge may not be high on their priority list.
