March 19, 2001
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today announced the appointment of Richard Birkel, Ph.D., as executive director of the nation's largest grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults with mental illnesses. Birkel, currently president and CEO of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute (Kennedy Institute) in Washington, D.C., will start on April 23, 2001.
READ MOREMarch 13, 2001
The public is outraged, parents are grieving, and fingers are pointed at the availability of guns, at broken families, at peer pressure, or at a pervasively violent culture. But no matter what experts may say, we all should know at least one thing instinctively: 14 and 15 year olds who resort to violence may be suffering from more than just alienation.
READ MOREMarch 9, 2001
NAMI is pleased to partner with HBO to help direct people to treatment information that can save lives.
READ MOREMarch 8, 2001
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) this week released two important tools for advocates seeking to protect the rights of consumers with mental illnesses in managed care systems, and to preserve access to effective medications in public and private health plan formularies.
READ MOREFebruary 26, 2001
According to the Harris Interactive survey released today by Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the "Partnership for Solutions" consortium [see below], which includes NAMI, two-thirds of Americans believe they are likely to develop a chronic illness in their lifetime.
READ MOREFebruary 23, 2001
For those who missed it the first time, NAMI encourages all American families to tune in to the Discovery Channel's remarkable documentary on schizophrenia, one of the world's most misunderstood illnesses.
READ MOREFebruary 21, 2001
In August, 2000, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) wrote a detailed letter asking you to spare the life of Alexander Williams, a man with a longstanding severe mental illness, by commuting his death sentence to a more humane alternative sentence.
READ MOREFebruary 9, 2001
It's called "suicide by cop," in which a suicidal individual deliberately seeks to create a dangerous situation so that police are forced to shoot. Like Mr. Pickett, sometimes the person is only wounded. Other times, the shooting is fatal.
READ MOREFebruary 8, 2001
NAMI commends Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) for today introducing the "Family Opportunity Act of 2001" to help families with children who have severe and chronic disorders, including the early-onset of mental illnesses.
READ MOREJanuary 30, 2001
Based on My Sister's Keeper: Learning to Cope with a Sibling's Mental Illness (1993) by Margaret Moorman, which included discussion of NAMI support groups, this true story is about the journey of discovery, respect and independence between two sisters. Christine (Bates) is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a teenager.
READ MORENAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “helpline” to 62640, or chat online. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).
