NAMI Opens Annual Convention in San Diego

Posted on June 15, 2000

San Diego, CA - The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the nation's leading grassroots advocacy organization solely dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses, opens it's annual convention today at the Town & Country Resort Hotel. In keeping with the theme, "Turning Promise Into Practice," the convention is presenting the latest developments in scientific research and dramatic breakthroughs in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of serious brain disorders that are helping millions of Americans recover from the once crippling effects of mental illness.

Convention Highlights:

• Childhood & adolescent mental Illnesses, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and mood disorders
• Criminalization and jail diversion
• Spirituality and mental illness
• Getting and keeping a job
• Depression screening for teenagers
• Helping the homeless
• Use of nutrients and botanical extracts in psychiatry
• Clinical signs, symptoms and effective treatments for schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder

Research updates, topical symposia, workshops, "Ask the Doctor" sessions, and plenary presentations will continue through June 17. Nationally prominent policy makers, authors, researchers, and physicians will be available for media interviews throughout the convention. More than 2,000 NAMI members from around the country also will be available to share their personal experiences with severe mental illnesses.