Mental Illness Awareness Week

WHEREAS, the Alabama Department of Mental Health serves more than 230,000 people through a broad network of state mental illness and intellectual disability facilities and community-based services; and

WHEREAS, serious mental illnesses, such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorders affect one in every four people annually; and

WHEREAS, scientific research is producing tremendous breakthroughs in the understanding of mental illnesses, resulting in more effective treatments that allow people to reclaim full and productive lives; and

WHEREAS, serious mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes and heart disease and are the number one reason for hospital admissions nationwide; and

WHEREAS, misunderstandings exist about many mental illnesses and our social culture often wrongly imposes stigma on them; and

WHEREAS, serious mental illnesses have been scientifically proven to be highly treatable illnesses of the brain:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim October 2 through 9, 2011, as

Mental Illness Awareness Week

in the State of the Alabama.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 20th day of September 2011.

                                                                                 Governor Robert Bentley