107 STAT. 1016 PUBLIC LAW 103-99 —OCT. 6, 1993 Public Law 103-99 103d Congress Joint Resolution Oct. 6, 1993 To designate the week of October 3, 1993, through October 9, 1993, as "Mental [S.J. Res. 61] Ilhiess Awareness Week". Whereas mental illness is a problem of grave concern and consequence 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 11,200,000 United States citizens are diagnosed with schizophrenia, manic depressive disorder, and major depression, and tnese individuals are often disabled for long periods of time; Whereas 33 percent of homeless persons suffer serious, chronic forms of mental illness; Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse affect almost 22 percent of adults in the United States in any 1-year period; Whereas mental illness interferes with the development and maturation of at least 12,000,000 of our children; Whereas a majority of the 30,000 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 persons with AIDS will develop AIDS- related cognitive dysfunction and as many as two-thirds of persons with AIDS will show neuropsychiatric symptoms before tney die; Whereas mental illness, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse result in staggering costs to society, estimated to be in excess of $273,000,000 each year in direct treatment and support and indirect costs to society, including lost productivity; Whereas the Federal research budget committed to the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Alcohohsm and Alcohol Abuse, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse represents only about 1 percent of the direct treatment and support costs of caring for persons with mental disorders, alcohol addiction, and drug addiction; Whereas mental illnesses are increasingly treatable disorders with excellent prospects for amelioration when properly recognized; Whereas persons with mental illness 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
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