The National Mental Health Awareness Campaign

NMHAC, a nationwide nonpartisan public education campaign, was launched as part of the 1999 White House Conference on Mental Health organized by Tipper Gore. It has a two-pronged goal: encourage people to identify, discuss, and seek help for mental health problems; and create a more accepting environment for them to do so. Both the 1999 Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health and President Bush's New Freedom Commission Report in 2002 identify stigma as a primary reason that people do not seek the mental health services they need.

We aim to accomplish our mission by utilizing three programs; our youth outreach program, the Mental Health Media Partnership and our Roundtable discussions on various topics. Click here to learn more about our programs.

NMHAC's first major outreach was through a partnership with MTV in 2001. The campaign was called "Change Your Mind." MTV and Channel One ran public service announcements continuously throughout the year. NMHAC's website nostigma.org registered over 18 million hits in the first 6 months of the campaign. NMHAC also partnered with the American Psychological Association, MTV and Seventeen Magazine to develop brochures, suicide warning cards and postcards. Over 400,000 brochures, postcards and suicide warning cards have been distributed.

In 2002 NMHAC began offering full school assemblies for middle schools, high schools and colleges. During the past 5 years our speakers have spoken to over 500,000 young people and reached millions of other people in media opportunities.