A joint resolution to designate the week of October 4, 1992, through October 10, 1992, as "Mental Illness Awareness Week".
PL 102-418 (S.J.Res.287), enacted 10/14/1992

PUBLIC LAW 102-418—OCT. 14, 1992 
106 STAT. 2139 
Public Law 102-418 
102d Congress 
Joint Resolution 
To designate the week of October 4, 1992, through October 10, 1992, as "Mental 
Oct. 14, 1992 
Illness Awareness Week". 
[S.J. Res. 287] 
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 17,000,000 United States citizens are disabled 
for long periods of time by schizophrenia, msinic depressive dis-
order, and major depression; 
Whereas 33 percent of homeless persons suffer serious, chronic 
forms of mental illness; 
Whereas alcohol, drug, and mental disorders affect almost 22 per-
cent 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 29,000 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 AIDS patients will develop AIDS-
related cognitive dysfunction and as many as two-thirds of AIDS 
patients will show neuropsychiatric symptoms before they die; 
Wnereas mental illnesses, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse result 
in staggering costs to society, estimated to be in excess of 
$249,000,000,000 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 treatment and support costs of 
caring for persons with alcohol, drug, and mental disorders; 
Whereas mental illnesses are increasingly treatable disorders with 
excellent prospects for ameUoration when properly recognized; 
Whereas mentally ill persons 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 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; 
Whereas research in recent decades has led to a wide array of 
new and more effective modaUties of treatment (somatic, 
psychosocial, and service deUvery) for some of the most incapaci-
106 STAT. 2140 
PUBLIC LAW 102-418—OCT. 14, 1992 
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 be cost effective in terms of restored productivity, 
reduced use of other health services, and lessened socied 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 cliniced 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 4, 1992, through October 10, 1992, 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 14, 1992. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 287: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 138 (1992): 
June 26, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 30, considered and passed House.