Community Psychiatric Clinic & WAMI -- Congressman Jim McDermott Kicks-off Seattle's First Annual Move for Mental Health; A 5k Run/Walk to Raise Awareness About Mental Illness.

Health & Lifestyle Editors

SEATTLE--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 26, 2001

State Congressman Jim McDermott will be on hand Sunday, Sept. 30 at Seward Park to help kick-off Seattle's first ever Move for Mental Health.

The event is a 5k run/walk being held to raise public awareness about mental illness, provide education, and help promote National Mental Illness Awareness Week, Oct. 7-13. All proceeds from the event will go to fund education, advocacy, support, and treatment for individuals with mental illness and their families.

The run/walk is a partnership between Washington Advocates for the Mentally Ill (NAMI's WAMI) and Community Psychiatric Clinic (CPC). These organizations and many dedicated volunteers came together to create an event which would help raise public awareness and provide education about mental illnesses -- disorders which are often not spoken about but affect an estimated 300,000 people in Washington State at any given time, (State of Washington Division of Mental Health), and more than 54 million Americans in any given year (U.S. Surgeon General's Report, 1999). Mental illnesses are devastating not only to consumers themselves, but also family members, friends, and communities as whole. Through this event we hope to help dispel fear, misunderstanding, and stigma associated with mental illness, as well as reinforce that mental illnesses are treatable. Individuals can go on to live normal, productive lives with medication and treatment.

A psychiatrist by training, Congressman McDermott has been involved in advancing public health policy for more than three decades. As a State legislator, he was an architect of the Washington Basic Health Plan, and as a Member of Congress he strongly advocates a system of universal health care that includes parity for the treatment of mental disorders. "Every American deserves access to affordable quality health care. I applaud the work of everyone involved in the Move for Mental Health to highlight the critical need to provide comprehensive care for people with mental illness," stated Congressman McDermott.

Did you know?

-- Mental illness affects one out of every four families in America. (National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill)

-- Tragic and devastating disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar
disorder, Alzheimer's disease, mental and behavioral disorders suffered by
children, as well as a range of other mental disorders affect nearly one in
five Americans in any given year. (U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Mental
Health, 1999)

-- The estimated cost of mental health care is over $150 billion per year.
(National Alliance for the Mentally Ill)

And....

-- Modern medicine has shown that mental illnesses are treatable

medical conditions.

Washington Advocates for the Mentally Ill (WAMI), an affiliate of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), is a non-profit organization established in 1978 providing statewide services to address the unmet needs of individuals with mental illness and their families through advocacy, self-help and support groups, public education, information and referral, and Family-to-Family classes. Community Psychiatric Clinic (CPC), a non-profit behavioral health care organization founded in 1952, provides psychiatric care to thousands of people in Seattle and King County and offers a wide range of community-based services to those affected by mental illness and/or chemical dependency. For more information on WAMI & CPC visit www.wami-nami.com or www.cpcwa.org.

INTERVIEW/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

What: Move for Mental Health 5k (3 mile) run/walk

When: Sunday, September 30, 2001 - 8:30 a.m.

Where: Seward Park, Seattle, WA

Interviews:

-- Washington State Congressman Jim McDermott

-- Eleanor Owen, Executive Director, Washington Advocates for the

Mentally Ill (WAMI)

-- Shirley Havenga, Chief Executive Officer, Community

Psychiatric Clinic (CPC)

-- Ron Reichter/Kylee Qualls, Consumer perspective

-- Dr. Larry Bornstein, Community Psychiatric Clinic Medical

Director

Events:

8:00-8:15 a.m. -- Raging Grannies perform

8:15-8:20 a.m. -- Welcome from CPC & WAMI

8:20 a.m. -- Congressman McDermott speaks

8:30 a.m. -- Run/walk starts (Congressman McDermott to walk with participants)

9:30-10:00 a.m. - Total Experience Gospel Choir performs

10:00-10:30 a.m. - WAMI & CPC presentations/Awards, random prizes