[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 213 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60083-60084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29048]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 213 / Thursday, November 4, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 60083]]

                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.

[[Page 60084]]

                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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-29048
Filed 11-3-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P