NAMI News

Two weeks ago, the movie A Beautiful Mind won the Oscar for "Best Picture." Today, the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing for its leadership in addressing issues affecting people with mental illness.

Barring any unexpected world crisis, NAMI national board member Moe Armstrong and Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, author of Surviving Schizophrenia, are scheduled to be interviewed on ABC's NIGHTLINE on Friday, March 22nd about the movie A Beautiful Mind.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has established the NAMI Policy Research Institute (NPRI) as part of its campaign to drive national, state, and local debates on reforms and investments in the nation's mental health care system. 

"NAMI will be proud to give this award to each of them, for making a difference both with the movie and the dialogue that has followed."

NAMI opposes the death penalty for anyone with severe mental illness, and we hope that the jury will be persuaded not to compound further the profound tragedies that occurred in this case.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has opened a breach in the artificial wall that has long separated coverage of physical and mental illnesses in insurance policies.

 In a letter to Secretary Tommy Thompson of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) this week, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) praised broad aspects of President George W. Bush's budget for FY2003, but outlined specific concerns that still need to be addressed during the Congressional budget and appropriations process.

Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a victim of child abuse, Alexander Williams was sentenced to die by lethal injection for a crime committed while actively psychotic.

On behalf of the 220,000 members and 1,200 state and local affiliates of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), I am writing to thank you for important increases in the President's FY 2003 budget that affect research and services for consumers and families living with severe mental illnesses.

Mary Freer will run the Olympic Torch two-tenths of a mile as part of the official relay en route to Friday's opening ceremonies in Salt Lake City.