Statement by the President on Mental Health Month

Mental illness exacts a terrible toll on our people. The President's Commission on Mental Health found that as many as 25 percent of Americans may suffer from depression, anxiety, or some other form of emotional disorder at any given time. The victims may be children as well as adults, country people as well as city dwellers, the powerless as well as the powerful, the ordinary man and woman next door as well as the person subjected to extraordinary outside pressure.

Yet millions of people are still afraid or ashamed to seek the help and support that can cure a mild disturbance and prevent its becoming a serious disability. In its final report, the Commission concluded that we must devote more time and energy to the understanding and prevention of mental illness.

During May—Mental Health Month-the National Mental Health Association will embark on a permanent, nationwide campaign to teach Americans how to reduce and cope with psychological stress, one of the most serious and costly threats to the health of our people.

The National Mental Health Association, composed of a million volunteers working through 850 State and local affiliated organizations, has worked for better mental health care ever since it was founded in 1909. I urge all Americans to cooperate with the Association during May by opening their minds to a better understanding of mental health and of the ways to recognize, reduce, and deal with unhealthy stress.