A joint resolution to designate the week of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, as "Mental Illness Awareness Week".
PL 103-99 (S.J.Res.61), enacted 10/06/1993

107 STAT. 1016 
PUBLIC LAW 103-99—OCT. 6, 1993 
Public Law 103-99 
103d Congress 
Joint Resolution 
Oct. 6, 1993 
To designate the week of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, as "Mental 
[S.J. Res. 61] 
Ilhiess Awareness Week". 
Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and con-
sequence in the United States and it is widely, but unnecessarily, 
feared and misunderstood; 
Whereas on an annual basis 40,000,000 adults in the United States 
suffer from clearly diagnosable mental disorders, including mental 
illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse, which create significant 
disabilities with respect to employment, school attendance, and 
independent living; 
Whereas more than 11,200,000 United States citizens are diagnosed 
with schizophrenia, manic depressive disorder, and major depres-
sion, and tnese individuals are often disabled for long periods 
of time; 
Whereas 33 percent of homeless persons suffer serious, chronic 
forms of mental illness; 
Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse affect almost 
22 percent of adults in the United States in any 1-year period; 
Whereas mental illness interferes with the development and matu-
ration of at least 12,000,000 of our children; 
Whereas a majority of the 30,000 American citizens who commit 
suicide each year suffer from a mental or an addictive disorder; 
Whereas our growing population of elderly persons faces many 
obstacles to care for mental disorders; 
Whereas 20 to 25 percent of persons with AIDS will develop AIDS-
related cognitive dysfunction and as many as two-thirds of per-
sons with AIDS will show neuropsychiatric symptoms before tney 
die; 
Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse result in 
staggering costs to society, estimated to be in excess of 
$273,000,000 each year in direct treatment and support and 
indirect costs to society, including lost productivity; 
Whereas the Federal research budget committed to the National 
Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Alcohohsm 
and Alcohol Abuse, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse 
represents only about 1 percent of the direct treatment and 
support costs of caring for persons with mental disorders, alcohol 
addiction, and drug addiction; 
Whereas mental illnesses are increasingly treatable disorders with 
excellent prospects for amelioration when properly recognized; 
Whereas persons with mental illness and their families have begun 
to join self-help groups seeking to combat the unfair stigma 
of mental illness, to support greater national investment in 
PUBLIC LAW 103-99—OCT. 6, 1993 
107 STAT. 1017 
research, and to advocate an adequate continuum of care from 
hospital to community; 
Whereas in recent years there have been imprecedented major 
research developments bringing new methods and technology to 
the sophisticated and objective study of the functioning of the 
brain and its linkages to both normal and abnormal behavior; 
Whereas research in recent decades has led to a wide array of 
new and more effective 
modalities of treatment 
(somatic, 
psychosocial, and service deUvery) for some of the most incapaci-
tating forms of mental illness, including schizophrenia, major 
affective disorders, phobias, and phobic disorders; 
Whereas appropriate treatment of mental illness has been dem-
onstrated to he cost-effective in terms of restored productivity, 
reduced use of other heedth services, and lessened social depend-
ence; and 
Whereas recent and unparalleled growth in scientific knowledge 
about mental illness has generated the current emergence of 
a new threshold of opportunity for future research advances and 
fruitful appUcation tc> specific clinical problems: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the week 
of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, is designated as 
"Mental Illness Awareness Week". The President is authorized and 
requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the 
United States to observe such week with appropriate programs, 
ceremonies, and activities. 
Approved October 6, 1993. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 61: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 139 (1993): 
May 27, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 28, considered and passed House. 
69-194 O - 94 - 3 : QL. 3 Part 2