A joint resolution to designate the week of October 6, 1991 through October 12, 1991, as "Mental Illness Awareness Week".
PL 102-122 (S.J.Res.156), enacted 10/08/1991

105 STAT. 612 
PUBLIC LAW 102-122—OCT. 8, 1991 
Public Law 102-122 
x 
102d Congress 
Joint Resolution 
Oct- 8, 1991 
To designate the week of October 6, 1991, through October 12, 1991, as "Mental 
[S.J. Res. 156] 
Illness Awareness Week". 
Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and con-
sequence in the United States, widely but unnecessarily feared 
and misunderstood; 
Whereas 31,000,000 to 41,000,000 United States citizens annually 
suffer from clearly diagnosable mental disorders involving signifi-
cant disability with respect to emplo3rment, school attendance, 
and independent living; 
Whereas more than 10,000,000 United States citizens are disabled 
for long periods of time by schizophrenia, manic depressive dis-
order, and major depression; 
Whereas 33 percent of the homeless suffer serious, chronic forms of 
mental illness; 
Whereas alcohol, drug, and mental disorders affect almost 19 per-
cent of adults in this country in any 6-month period; 
Whereas mental illness in at least 12,000,000 of our children inter-
feres with vital developmental and maturational processes; 
Whereas mental disorder related deaths are estimated to be, at the 
very least, 33,000 annually, with suicide accounting for at least 
29,000 of such deaths; 
Whereas our growing population of the elderly is particularly 
vulnerable to mental illness; 
Whereas estimates indicate that 10 percent of AIDS patients will 
develop dementia or other psychiatric problems as the first sign of 
such disease, and that as many as two-thirds of AIDS patients will 
show neuropsychiatric symptoms before they die; 
Whereas mental disorders result in staggering costs to society, 
estimated to be in excess of 249,000,000,000 dollars in direct 
treatment and support and indirect costs to society, including lost 
productivity; 
Whereas the Federal research budget committed to the Alcohol, 
Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration represents only 
about 1 percent of the direct clinical costs of caring for persons 
with alcohol, drug, and mental disorders; 
Whereas mental illness is increasingly a treatable disability with 
excellent prospects for amelioration and recovery when properly 
recognized; 
Whereas families of mentally ill persons and those persons them-
selves have begun to join selfhelp groups seeking to combat the 
unfair stigma of the diseases, to support greater national invest-
ment in research, and to advocate an adequate continuum of care 
from hospital to community; 
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; 
PUBLIC LAW 102-122—OCT. 8, 1991 
105 STAT. 613 
Whereas research in recent decades has led to a wide array of new 
and more effective modalities of treatment (both somatic and 
psychosocial) for some of the most incapacitating forms of mental 
illness, including schizophrenia, major affective disorders, pho-
bias, and phobic disorders; 
Whereas appropriate treatment of mental illness has been dem-
onstrated to be cost effective in terms of restored productivity, 
reduced use of other health 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 application to 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 period of October 
6, 1991, through October 12, 1991, is designated as "Mental Illness 
Awareness 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 programs, ceremonies, and 
activities. 
Approved October 8, 1991. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 156: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 137 (1991): 
June 26, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 30, considered and passed House.