According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness):
Since 1990, mental health advocates across the country have joined together during the first week of October to celebrate Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) and Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day.
In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the first week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) in recognition of NAMI's efforts to raise mental illness awareness. Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day (BDAD) is held each year on the Thursday of MIAW.
As part of Mental Illness Awareness Week 2008, the 5th annual National Day of Prayer will be observed on Tuesday, October 7, by communities and congregations across the country.
MIAW and BDAD are NAMI's premiere public awareness and public education campaigns. They link the organization's over 1,100 local affiliates across the country.
Because today is the National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness, I wanted to publish my dream, described in my post "I, Too, Have a Dream":
I have a dream that one day I won't hold my breath every time I tell a person that I suffer from bipolar disorder, that I won't feel shameful in confessing my mental illness.
I have a dream that people won't feel the need to applaud me for my courage on writing and speaking publicly about my disease, because the diagnosis of depression and bipolar disorder would be understood no differently than that of diabetes, arthritis, or dementia.
I have a dream that the research into genetics of mood disorders will continue to pinpoint specific genes that may predispose individuals and families to depression and bipolar disorder (like the gene G72/G30, located on chromosome 13q), just as specific genes associated with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been located and identified.
I have a dream that brain-imaging technology will continue to advance in discovering what, exactly, is going on inside the brain, that a neurological perspective coupled with a biochemical approach to mental illness will develop targeted treatments: new medication and better response to particular medications--that we can cut out that painful trial-and-error process.
I have a dream depressives won't have to risk their jobs in divulging their condition, that employers will respond more empathetically to the country's 7.8 million working depressives, that the general public will be more educated on mental illness so that it doesn't cost this country more than $44 billion each year (like it does now).
I have a dream that families, friends, and co-workers will show kindness to depressives, not reproach them for not being stronger, for not having enough will power and discipline and incentive to get well, for not snapping out of it, for not being grateful enough, for not seeing the cup half full, for not controlling their emotions.
I have a dream that tabloids like "In Touch Weekly" won't lump allegations of Britney Spears' taking antidepressants into the same category as her 24-hour marriage, all-night clubbing, and pantyless photos--that our world might be more sophisticated and informed than that.
I have a dream that people will no longer use the following terms to describe persons with mental illness: fruity, loony, wacky, nutty, cuckoo, loopy, crazy, wacko, gonzo, nutso, batty, bonkers, ditzy, bananas, and crazy.
I have a dream that spiritual leaders might preach compassion to persons with mental illness, not indict them for not praying hard enough, or in the right way, or often enough, and that judgmental new-age thinkers who blame all illness on blocked energy (in chakras one through seven) might be enlightened to understand that fish oil, mindfulness meditation, and acupuncture can't cure everything.
I have a dream that health insurance companies will stop serving Satan, and read a medical report every now and then, where they would learn that depression is a legitimate, organic brain disease, and that those who suffer from it aren't a bunch of weak, pathetic people who can't cope with life's hard knocks.
I dream that one day depression won't destroy so many marriages and families, that better and faster treatment will work in favor of every form of intimacy.
I have a dream that suicide won't take more lives than traffic accidents, lung disease, or AIDS, that together we can do better to reduce the 30,000 suicides that happen annually in the United States, and that communities will lovingly embrace those friends and families of persons who ran out of hope, instead of simply ignoring the tragedy or attaching fault where none should be.
I have a dream that one day depression, bipolar disorder, and all kinds of mental illness will lose their stigma, that I won't have to whisper the word "Zoloft" to the pharmacist at Rite Aid, that people will be able to have loud conversations in coffee shops about how they treat their depression (in addition to the excellent dialogue we have here on "Beyond Blue").
Mostly, I dream about a day when I can wake up and think about coffee first thing in the morning, rather than my mood--is it a serene one, a panicked one, or somewhere in between?--and fretting about whether or not I'm heading toward the black hole of despair. I dream that I'll never ever have to go back to that harrowing and lonely place of a year ago. That no one else should have to either. But if they do (or if I do), that they not give up hope. Because eventually their tomorrow will be better than their today. And they will be able to dream again too.
Check out other articles and videos about bipolar disorder on Beliefnet's Bipolar Resource page by clicking here.
To read more Beyond Blue, go to www.beliefnet.com/beyondblue, and to get to Group Beyond Blue, a support group at Beliefnet Community, click here.
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How remarkable your "I have a dream" article is and timely too. As we as a nation go through tumultuous times, many people are "losing their dreams, hope, and trust in our government". Suicides are up tremendously this year and this "Week" has an increased significance. The mental health professional community needs all the help it can get to get the words out that you have spoken so eloquently about. Everyone needs to know that these are real illnesses and the doctors who treat them are dedicated staff who are for the most part compassionate and swift in recognizing Mental Illness.
However, it was a long road to get to the point of gaining a real diagnosis and getting on with my life. I too suffer from PTSD and anxiety disorder and the stigma is there always. It affects my professional life as well as my everyday life and I deal with my vulnerabilities and overcome or manage those successfully now. All who have been touched by mental illness whether personally or through a loved one know how real this is. The truth needs to be reiterated about mental illness and more research monies dedicated to the causes, remedies and dispelling myths about the disease. Thank you!
Just wanted to say Amen to every statement. Wow, you so have it.
I cried when I read this. I too wish for all these things. I know exactly what you mean when you say I dream that I will never have to go back to that 'place'. I hate that place too. I wish my family were more supportive.
MY HEART GOES OUT TO THOSE FOLKS WHO HAVE NEVER TAKING THE TIME TO EXPLORE THOSE OTHERS WHO ARE IN THIS MOMENT IN THAT TERM OR SHOULD I SAY.............../////////// S.T.A.T.E O.F M.I.N.D HOPE WELL N LOVE 2 SO MANY
Right on! love this post. we need mental heatlh awareness in the world in a bad bad way. stigmas suck.
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