Mental Illness Awareness Week is Oct. 4 to 10. Established by Congress in 1990, its purpose is to promote public awareness and education about serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Other illnesses include post-traumatic stress disorder – one of several serious anxiety disorders; obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder. Check out a video on mental illness here.

One in four adults – about 60 million Americans—experience mental health problems in any given year. One in 17 lives with the most serious conditions.

“Mental illnesses are medical illnesses,” said Connie Walker of NAMI Southern Maryland, a regional affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “That is the starting point for understanding, as well as treatment and recovery. Mental illness does not discriminate. No one is immune.”

The U.S. Surgeon General has noted that stigma is a major barrier to people seeking help when they need it. “That’s why education is so important, “ Walker continued. Even if friends simply rent a DVD of the movie The Soloist, watch it together and then take time to discuss what they know—or don’t know—about mental illness, that’s the kind of dialogue that can help.”

On average, people with serious mental illness live 25 years less than the rest of the population. One reason is that less than a third of adults and less than half of children and adolescents with a diagnosed illness receive treatment. Half of all lifetime cases begin by age 14. Long delays occur—as much as a decade—between the onset of symptoms and getting help.

“Treatment works if you can get it,” said Walker. “Overcoming the unwarranted stigma that has surrounded these illnesses, so that people are ok with reaching out for help, is a challenge that requires action. Awareness and education are the first steps. That’s what MIAW is about – taking steps forward to strengthen our community.”

For more information about mental illness, visit www.nami.org. In October, PBS stations across the country will air Minds on the Edge: Facing Mental Illness, an exceptional program that challenges the current state of the mental health care in America. In Maryland, “Minds on the Edge” will air on PBS channels on Oct. 30 at 11 pm. It is available for viewing on www.pbs.org the entire month of October.

NAMI Southern Maryland provides support, education, and advocacy for individuals whose lives are affected by mental illness – either as consumers of mental health services; family members and caregivers; or community stakeholders. The affiliate offers an array of nationally recognized family psycho education and peer recovery education programs and support groups, led by state trained and certified family members and consumers of mental health services. It also provides information and referral services through its office in Lexington Park and via its mobile line at (301) 904-9926; as well as informational materials and resources at community health venues.

Volunteer opportunities are available. NAMI SoMD is affiliated with the United Way of St. Mary's County and is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, call (301) 737-1988, (301) 904-9926 or visit NAMI Southern Maryland at www.namisomd.org.