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Advocacy on Behalf of People Living with Mental Illness and for the Health of our Communities
- NAMI advocates on the federal level to ensure nondiscriminatory and equitable federal and private-sector policies are in place as well as a commitment to research for the treatment and cures for mental illness.
- NAMI's Campaign for the Mind of America, a grassroots political communications initiative, focuses on building relationships at national, state, and local levels with community leaders and elected officials to ensure that policy decisions are reflective of the best economic, science, recovery, and systems choices while ensuring the best outcomes.
- NAMI Action Centers, including the Multicultural Action Center, the Children & Adolescent Action Center, and the Center on Law and Criminal Justice, works to address unique systems and populations by developing, promoting, and disseminating appropriate education, advocacy, research, and support models tailored to meet specific needs.
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Group Offers Free Psychiatric Care to War Vets
Stars and Stripes | Leo Shane III | May 2008
WASHINGTON -- A coalition of mental health groups announced plans Monday to establish a nationwide network of psychiatrists, psychologists and other experts to provide free counseling to combat veterans and their families.
"Citizen soldiers have had extended, long deployments, and that has created a difficult situation for them and for their families," said Dr. Richard Harding, president of the American Psychiatric Foundation. "Those people need help … and we have a duty to take care of them."
The groups’ goal is to enlist about 40,000 mental health professionals -- about 10 percent of the nationwide force -- to donate time and services to individual veterans, their families, or veterans groups.
Learn more at Military.com's PTSD Center
The resources would be in addition to services already provided by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs agencies, especially in areas with long wait times or long travel distances for servicemembers to easily take advantage of those official medical treatment options.
Dr. Barbara Romberg, president of the Give an Hour Foundation, said more than 1.6 million servicemembers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan over the last seven years, and studies show at least 20 percent have battled with anxiety, depression and serious stress disorders since their return.
Those figures don’t include family members, who can also suffer mental health issues when their loved ones are sent to war.
"But there is reason for hope and optimism," she said. "We know so much more today about mental health in general and about conditions like PTSD. We know that post-traumatic stress disorder doesn’t need to turn into a chronic illness."
Her group currently has about 1,200 licensed professionals donating an hour a week to counsel servicemembers and their families.
The Eli Lilly foundation donated $1 million to the effort at the event. Project officials said the funds will be used for public awareness and servicemember outreach programs, as well as recruiting more counselors throughout the country.
To find a counselor in your area, or to volunteer services to the mental health counseling project, visit www.giveanhour.org.
Learn more at these sites:
American Psychological Association
Anxiety Disorder Association of America
Asperger's Disorder
Attention Deficiet Disorder
Autism Society of America
Borderline Personality Disorder
Depression & Bipolar
National Eating Disorders Association
National Institute of Mental Health
Schizophrenia
National Mental Health Association
Social Security Administration
Parents Helping Parents
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