Thursday, March 18, 2004

NAMI Task Force Calls For Stronger, Smarter Investment In Federal Scientific Research on Serious Mental Illnesses To Build on Break-Throughs
Story at the NAMI web site on the release of a 40-page report, Roadmap to Recovery and Cure (in Adobe Acrobat format) - "...At a time when the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has called for major changes in the nation’s mental healthcare system, the report reveals a significant gap between scientific research and treatment services—calling both 'totally inadequate—and unnecessarily so.'" See also, at the NAMI web site, Background information about the Task Force and a list of its members.   
  

Mental health workers hope senator's plea touched many (Oregon)
Story in The Oregonian on "...the willingness of Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and his wife, Sharon, to talk so publicly about their son Garrett and his mental illness less than six months after his suicide. The senator testified March 2 before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on suicide among young people. Sharon Smith spoke to reporters afterward, saying their family realized that many others who are struggling with mental illness in their families needed help. In his statement, Gordon Smith urged funding for efforts to screen youth for mental illnesses and suicide risk and for expanded mental and behavioral health services to college students."