Child Mental Health Month, 1999

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7246 of October 30, 1999

Child Mental Health Month, 1999

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As a Nation, we have made much progress in ensuring the
physical health of our young people. But we are only
beginning to make similar strides in protecting their
mental health. The symptoms of mental illness in
children and adolescents too often go unrecognized and
therefore untreated--a tragic failing that can lead to
profound effects on their development. Even very young
children can experience anxiety and depressive
disorders that can have a long-term negative impact on
their social interactions at home and at school.

Unfortunately, our attitudes regarding mental illness
have compounded this problem. While we now know that
more than one in five Americans experiences some form
of mental illness each year, that many mental disorders
are biological, and that they can be treated medically,
too many people still believe that mental illness is a
personal failure. Because of this widespread
misconception, many parents are reluctant to
acknowledge that their children need help, and many
children who need help are afraid to ask for it.

During Child Mental Health Month, I encourage all
parents, teachers, pediatricians, school nurses, other
health care professionals, and concerned citizens
across our country to learn more about children's
mental health. By doing so, we can recognize more
quickly the early warning signs of mental illnesses and
disorders. We can detect depression before it deepens
into serious illness, raise awareness of risk factors
for suicide, and work to prevent more acts of youth
violence.

We must do all we can to intervene in the lives of
young people who are mentally or emotionally unstable
before they cause harm to themselves or to others. I am
pleased that some schools have responded to the recent
youth violence tragedies by improving mental health
services, expanding after-school and mentoring
programs, and offering in-home counseling for
vulnerable families. To ensure the success of these
efforts, we must work to fight the stigma and dispel
the myths that surround mental illness. By engaging in
efforts that raise public awareness of our children's
mental health, we can replace stigma with acceptance,
ignorance with understanding, and fear with new hope
for the future.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim November 1999 as Child
Mental Health Month. I call upon families, schools,
communities, and governments to dedicate themselves to
promoting the mental health and well-being of all our
children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-fourth.