Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease)
March 21, 2008 - National Alliance on Mental Illness statement: “Significant reductions in inpatient psychiatric beds, coupled with shortages of appropriate community services and supports for people with the most severe mental illnesses, has led to a crisis in America. Today, in many parts of the country, people with severe mental illness do not have access to necessary treatment either in hospitals or in the community. This has contributed significantly to increases in homelessness, criminalization, suicides, and other adverse consequences of neglect.
On March 19, 2008, The Treatment Advocacy Center released a report focusing on one important dimension of this crisis – sharp decreases in public hospital beds for persons with mental illness. This report can be accessed at http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/Reportbedshortage.htm.”
NAMI’s Grading the States 2006 report also describes the crisis in America’s public mental health system and the reasons for this crisis, including the non-existence of evidence based mental health services in many communities and major shortages in qualified mental health professionals throughout the country. This report can be accessed at www.nami.org/grades.
NAMI national experts are available for media interviews on this and related mental health issues upon request.
About NAMI:
NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. Founded in 1979, NAMI has affiliates in every state and in more than 1,100 local communities across the country.
NAMI Web Resources:
NAMI newsroom
NAMI state & local offices
http://www.nami.org
Contact:
Christine Armstrong
(703) 312-7893
Christinea ( @ ) nami dot org
www.nami.org
