1988-23255-Resolution No. 88-068 Recorded 10/6/1988SS -23255
BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DES CHTITES- `C.' ` JRLsuir
A Resolution Proclaiming the *
Week of October 2 -8, 1988,
as Mental Health Awareness
Week in Deschutes County,
Oregon.
RESOLUTION NO. 88 -068
oosa 1932
WHEREAS, mental illness is a problem of grave concern and
consequence in American society and is widely, but unnecessarily,
feared and misunderstood; and
WHEREAS, more than 10,000,000 people in the United States
are disabled for long periods of time by schizophrenia, manic
depressive disorders and major depression; and
WHEREAS, between 30 and 50 percent of homeless people suffer
serious and chronic forms of mental illness; and
WHEREAS, mental disorders result in staggering economic
costs to society, which are estimated to be in excess of
$249,000,000,000, and include direct treatment and support costs,
as well as indirect costs, such as lost productivity; and
WHEREAS, mental illness is an increasingly treatable dis-
ability with excellent prospects for remedy and recovery when
properly recognized; and
WHEREAS, appropriate treatment of mental illness is cost
effective because it restores productivity, reduces utilization
of other health services and lessens social dependence; and
WHEREAS, individuals with mental illnesses and their fami-
lies have begun to join self -help groups to combat the unfair
stigma of the diseases, support greater investment in research
and advocate an adequate continuum of care from hospital to
community; and
WHEREAS, unprecedented major research developments in recent
years have added new methods and technology to the sophisticated
and objective study of the functioning of the brain and its
linkages to normal and abnormal behavior; and
WHEREAS, research in recent decades has led to a wide array
of new and more effective somatic and psychosocial methods of
treatment for some of the most incapacitating forms of mental
illness, including schizophrenia, major affective disorders,
phobias and phobic disorders; and
1 - RESOLUTION NO. 88 -068
11,;CROHLME!7
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KEYrUNCHED
00T 1988
0093 1933
WHEREAS, recent and unparalleled growth in scientific
knowledge about mental illness has generated the current emer-
gence of a new threshold of opportunity for future research
advances and fruitful application to specific clinical problems;
and
WHEREAS, serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and
the major depressions are now known to be diseases of the brain
and not caused by individual weaknesses or poor family life; and
WHEREAS, persons with mental illnesses and their families
are stigmatized by the myths and prejudices surrounding mental
illness and are thereby doubly victimized by the illness; now,
therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON, as follows:
Section 1. That the Board of County Commissioners of
Deschutes County, Oregon, is pleased to recognize National Mental
Illness Awareness Week as a way to reduce stigma and promote
understanding of the mentally ill and their families.
Section 2. That the Board of County Commissioners of
Deschutes County, Oregon, commends the 70,000 member- families of
the National Alliance for the Mentally I11 (NAMI) and 30 members
of AMI of Central Oregon who have joined together to support each
other and their loved ones and to educate the American people on
the plight of the mentally ill.
Section 3. That Deschutes County joins NAMI in urging the
Federal Government to increase appropriations of the National
Institute for Mental Health for research on serious mental ill-
nesses.
Section 4. That the week of October 2 - 8, 1988, be de-
clared Mental Health Awareness
/d Week in Deschutes County, Oregon.
DATED this day of (1(2i >L, 1988.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF �' CHU S COUNTY OREGON Ara
LOI :'ISTOW PRANTE, Commissioner
1. .
ATTEST: TO TH �.�OP \ . o ss_ Toner
f
Recording Secretary DICK MAUDLIN, Chairman
2 - RESOLUTION NO. 88 -068