National Mental Illness Awareness Week
October 3-9, 2004

HealthWatch from ideastream recognizes National Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 3-9, 2004. This observation is designed to educate the public on what is mental illness, how to recover, and how to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illness. With an early diagnosis, mental illness is treatable. Mental illness is any diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that interferes with a person's ability to live, work, and play. It includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and Alzheimer's disease. It affects how a person eats and sleeps, self-esteem, and cognitive ability. Mental illness is not a sign of personal weakness. A person needs treatment in order to get better.

Sources: SAMHSA'S National Mental Health Information Center, Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, Calendar of Activities

For more information and resources:

• Akron General Medical Center, Your Good Health Calendar
• The Cleveland Clinic Information Center, Mental Wellness & How to Achieve It
• Lorain County Mental Health Board
• The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness
• NetWellness, Community Health Information
• Ohio Department of Mental Health
• Summit County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services
• The 2004 World Mental Health Day Project
• University Hospitals Health Systems, Health Information
• World Federation for Mental Health

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

HealthWatch from ideastream recognizes National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. October 15, 2004 is National Mammography Day. To locate discounted or free screening mammograms in your area, review the accredited facilities that participated in 2003.

Both women and men can develop breast cancer. This year, an estimated 211,000 women and 1,600 men will learn they have breast cancer. Women and men at any age may develop breast cancer. However, 77% of women are age 50 or older when diagnosed and men are generally diagnosed between 60 and 70 years of age.

Sources: American Cancer Society; National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization

To learn more about breast cancer, call the American Cancer Society at (800) ACS-2345 or the National Cancer Institute at (800) 4-CANCER.

To participate in the American Cancer Society Cancer Survivors Networksm, visit www.acscsn.org or call 1-877-333-HOPE.

Information and Resources:

• Akron General Medical Center, Pink Ribbon Project
• American Cancer Society, Make a Pink Lapel Pin
• Breast Cancer Resource Committee, A Beacon of Hope for African American Women and Men
• Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation
• Cleveland Clinic Breast Center
• Men Against Breast Cancer, Caring About the Women We Love
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• National Cancer Institute, Male Breast Cancer
• National Cancer Institute
• NetWellness, Community Health Information
• The Gathering Place
• University Hospitals Health System, Health Information
• University Hospitals Health System, MacDonald Women's Hospital
• University Hospitals Health System, Ireland Cancer Center
• Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization