People with mental illness are the last frontier of the civil rights movement that has spanned much of this century,' declared NAMI executive director Laurie Flynn. Forty-four states still have laws that restrict the right of some people with treatable brain disorders to vote. Even if those laws are seldom applied, they represent stigma, prejudice, and discrimination against people with mental illness. We intend to challenge them, if necessary, while building a movement to demonstrate that we count too. Mental illnesses are biological brain disorders and in many cases today treatment works-but only if a person can get it.
Mental illnesses kill.
We are not talking about mental health problems that come from the stresses of daily life. We are not talking about Woody Allen and 30 years of talk therapy. Too many politicians don't know the difference and they are confused about priorities in spending taxpayer dollars. It is today a system in crisis-and too much like a chamber of horrors. Too many people with serious mental illness are dying because they cannot get adequate treatment.