Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 1.djvu/433

 PUBLIC LAW 101-348—AUG. 9, 1990 104 STAT. 399 Public Law 101-348 101st Congress Joint Resolution To designate the week of October 7, 1990, through October 13, 1990, as "Mental Aug. 9, 1990 Illness Awareness Week". [S.J. Res. 256] Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and consequence in American society, widely but unnecessarily feared and misunderstood; Whereas 31 to 41 million Americans annually suffer from clearly diagnosable mental disorders involving significant disability with respect to employment, attendance at school, or independent living; Whereas more than 10,000,000 Americans are disabled for long periods of time by schizophrenia, manic depressive disorder, and major depression; Whereas 33 percent of the homeless suffer serious, chronic forms of mental illness; Whereas alcohol, drug, and mental disorders affect almost 19 percent of American adults in any 6-month period; Whereas mental illness in at least 12,000,000 children interferes with vital developmental and maturational processes; Whereas mental disorder-related deaths are estimated to be 33,000 annually, with suicide accounting for at least 29,000 of those, although the real number is thought to be at least three times higher; Whereas our growing population of the elderly is particularly vulnerable to mental illness; Whereas estimates indicate that 1 in 10 AIDS patients will develop dementia or other psychiatric problems as the first sign of the disease and that as many as two-thirds of AIDS patients will show neuropsychiatric S3ntnptoms before they die; Whereas mental disorders result in staggering costs to society, estimated to be in excess of $249,000,000,000 in direct treatment and support and indirect costs to society, including lost productivity; Whereas the Federal research budget committed to the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration represents only about 1 percent of the direct clinical costs of caring for persons with alcohol, drug, and mental disorders; Whereas mental illness is increasingly a treatable disability with excellent prospects for amelioration and recovery when properly recognized; Whereas femiilies of mentally ill persons and those persons themselves have begun to join self-help groups seeking to combat the unfair stigma of the diseases, to support greater national investment in research, and to advocate an adequate continuum of care from hospital to community;

�