(April 12, 2013) Fifteen years ago, the Treatment Advocacy Center was founded with one goal in mind: to eliminate barriers to treatment for people with severe mental illness.
Fifteen years later, our founder, Dr. E Fuller Torrey, has this to say: “We have fundamentally changed the public dialogue on severe mental illness and dozens of state laws on these treatment issues. Our goal was and remains promoting recovery for anyone with severe psychiatric disease by assuring that reasonable treatment laws are on the books in each state and that they are used.”
We have accomplished more than we ever dreamed was possible on behalf of those too ill to advocate for themselves.
But there is still much to do. The coming months will see the release of valuable additional resources for families and their communities and new interactive programs that will bring our experts on severe mental illness into homes and offices everywhere. New grassroots advocacy efforts will help our supporters spread the word about the importance of restoring reason to the treatment of mental illness. All of this with the goal in mind to make treatment possible for more of those too ill to seek treatment themselves.
Says Dr. Torrey, “We will know when we have succeeded. The number of people with serious mental illnesses who are homeless, victimized or incarcerated will be markedly fewer. Suicides and homicides by individuals with untreated mental illness will decrease in incidence.”
To kick the observance off, a special, redesigned 15th anniversary Catalyst newsletter is going into the the mail shortly. If we don't have your mailing address, sign up now to receive an issue you will not want to miss. Or watch for the electronic version via email in coming weeks.