NAMI News

Millions of Americans are cheering today at the news that the White House plans to require health insurance coverage for severe mental illnesses comparable to that for physical ailments for federal employees and their families.

Dawson's Desktop, the interactive Internet version of Warner Brothers' popular television drama "Dawson's Creek" has linked with the Web site of the National Alliance for the Mentally (NAMI)-the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to helping people with severe mental illness-to educate teenagers and young adults about biologically-based brain disorders.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today presented its 1999 Exemplary Psychiatrist Award to 39 psychiatrists from around the nation and Canada during the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association here.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today praised Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore III for his decision to grant clemency to convicted murderer Calvin Swann, originally scheduled to die Wednesday night, converting his sentence from death to life without parole.

NAMI applauds Tipper Gore for her forthright disclosure of her personal struggle with major depression. We have long known that she is a woman of extraordinary insight, courage and compassion, and her decision to talk about her 1991 experience adds to our high esteem for her.

In its quarterly scientific publication, The Decade of the Brain, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has published the results of the first survey ever taken of consumers with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) about their views of scientific research.

Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W. (No.98-536), in which the State of Georgia is appealing an 11th Circuit federal court of appeals decision that held the institutionalization of two women with mental illness and mental retardation to be discriminatory under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today thanked Montana Governor Marc Racicot for signing into law a bill to end discrimination in health insurance benefits for persons suffering from severe mental illnesses.

As this country's attention turns to yet another tragic incident involving someone with severe mental illness, millions of Americans who struggle with these disorders and their families agonize over the sensationalized news headlines and the true meaning of this event.

U.S. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) today introduced legislation that will end harmful and discriminatory health insurance coverage for adults and children with the most severe mental illnesses.