A joint resolution to designate the week of October 6, 1985, through October 12, 1985, as "Mental Illness Awareness Week".
PL 99-112 (S.J.Res.67), enacted 10/01/1985

PUBLIC LAW 99-112—OCT. 1, 1985 
99 STAT. 485 
Public Law 99-112 
99th Congress 
Joint Resolution 
To designate the week of October 6, 1985, through October 12, 1985, as "Mental 
Oct. 1, 1985 
Illness Awareness Week". 
[S.J. Res. 67] 
Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and con-
sequence in American society, though one widely but unneces-
sarily feared and misunderstood; 
Whereas thirty-one to forty-one million Americans annually suffer 
from clearly diagnosable mental disorders involving significant 
disability with respect to employment, attendance at school, or 
independent living; 
Whereas alcohol, drug, and mental disorders affect almost 19 per 
centum of American adults in any six-month period; 
Whereas mental illness in at least twelve million children interferes 
with vital developmental and maturational processes; 
Whereas mental disorder-related deaths are estimated to be thirty-
three thousand with combined suicide accounting for at least 
twenty-nine thousand, although the real number is thought to be 
at least three times higher; 
Whereas our growing population of the elderly is particularly 
vulnerable to mental illness; 
Whereas mental disorders result in staggering costs to society, 
totaling an estimated $87,000,000,000 in direct treatment and 
support, and indirect costs to society, including lost productivity; 
Whereas mental illness is increasingly a treatable disability with 
excellent prospects for amelioration and recovery when properly 
recognized; 
Whereas in recent years there have been unprecedented 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 (pharmacological, 
behavioral, psychosocial) for some of the most incapacitating 
forms of mental illness (including schizophrenia, major effective 
disorders, phobias, and panic disorders); 
Whereeis appropriate treatment of mental illness has been dem-
onstrated to be cost effective in terms of restored productivity, 
reduced utilization of other health services, and lessened social 
dependence; 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 application to specific clinical problems: Now, therefore, 
be it 
STAT. 486 
PUBLIC LAW 99-112—OCT. 1, 1985 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the week beginning 
on October 6, 1985, is hereby designated as "Mental Illness Aware-
ness Week", and the President is authorized and requested to issue a 
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe 
such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 
Approved October 1, 1985. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 67: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 131 (1985): 
Apr. 15, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 19, considered and passed House.