National Mental Illness Awareness Week
October 2-8, 2005

National Mental Illness Awareness week is an annual observance created to focus attention on the high incidence of mental illness in America, to educate the public about mental illness and to reduce the stigma that motivates society to discriminate against people with mental illness. Mental illness is any diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that interferes with or limits a person's ability to live, work, learn, and participate fully in his or her community. Mental illness includes such disorders as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and Alzheimer's disease. Mental illness involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way a person feels about him/herself, and the way a person thinks. Mental illness is not a sign of personal weakness or lack of willpower. People with a mental illness cannot simply overcome it and get better on their own.

The week is filled with a variety of events and screenings. Highlights include nationally designated days within this week, focusing attention on depression and bipolar disorder. They are:

National Depression Screening Day, October 6, 2005
Depression is one of the most common and most treatable forms of mental illness. National Depression Screening Day was organized to help identify those in need by building awareness and helping to connect those in need with the appropriate resources to treat depression.

• A partial list of facilities offering screening in October 2005
• More information about Depression

Source: National Depression Screening Day

Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day, October 6, 2005
Approximately 2.3 million Americans, or nearly 1.2 percent of the U.S. population, are presently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. With accurate diagnosis and treatment, they can lead full and productive lives. If left untreated, however, those who have the disorder are prone to alcohol and drug abuse and suicide.

Bipolar Awareness Day aims to increase awareness of bipolar disorder, promote early detection and accurate diagnosis, reduce stigma, and minimize the devastating impact of the disorder.

• More information about Bipolar Disorder

Sources: Mental Illness Awareness Week & Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day

For more information about events and screenings, contact:

• Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board at 216-241-3400
• Lorain County Board of Mental Health at 1-800-360-3070
• Mental Health Association of Summit County at 1-800-991-1311

For more information and resources:

LOCAL

• Akron General Medical Center, Your Good Health Calendar
• The Cleveland Clinic Information Center, Mental Wellness & How to Achieve It
• NAMI: Ohio
• NetWellness, Community Health Information
• North East Ohio Health Services
• Ohio Department of Mental Health
• Summit County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services
• University Hospitals Health Systems, Health Information

NATIONAL

• NAMI: The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness
• National Mental Health Association

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

HealthWatch from ideastream recognizes National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. October 21, 2005 is National Mammography Day. To locate discounted or free screening mammograms in your area, review the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Mammography Facility Database.

Nearly all breast cancers can be treated successfully if detected early. The most effective ways of detecting breast cancer at an early, curable stage are to have an annual screening mammogram starting at age 40 and to have a clinical breast exam by a doctor or nurse each year.

FACTS:

• Hispanic women (63%) have fewer mammograms compared to Caucasian women (74%) and African American women (76%).

• Women below the poverty line are less likely than women at higher income levels to have had a mammogram in the past two years (44% versus 65% respectively).
  
• Breast cancer also is found in men. Male breast cancer makes up less than 1% of all cases.
  
• In Ohio in 2005, it is estimated that 9,670 people will get breast cancer and 1,850 will die of breast cancer.
  
• Women age 65 and older are less likely to get mammograms than younger women, even though breast cancer risk increases with age.

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

Sources: American Cancer Society; National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Information and Resources:

LOCAL

• Cleveland Clinic Breast Center
• The Gathering Place
• NetWellness, Community Health Information
• University Hospitals Health System, Health Information
• University Hospitals Health System, MacDonald Women's Hospital
• University Hospitals Health System, Ireland Cancer Cente

NATIONAL

• Breast Cancer Resource Committee, A Beacon of Hope for African American Women and Men Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation
• Men Against Breast Cancer, Caring About the Women We Love
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• National Cancer Institute, Male Breast Cancer
• National Cancer Institute
• Susan G. Komen Foundation
• Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organizatio

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do.”
--Helen Keller  

Albert Bierstadt, American, 1830-1902.
Yosemite Valley , 1866. Oil on canvas on panel,
97 x 142.3 cm.
© The Cleveland Museum of Art,
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection, 221.1922