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MONTGOMERY – ADMH is once again leading Alabama’s celebration of National Recovery Month. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Recovery Month seeks to promote the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery from mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The observance celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery is possible.
As of 2010, 45.9 million Americans aged 18 or older had mental illnesses in the past year, and about 11.4 million of those adults had serious mental illnesses. Additionally, 22.1 million Americans aged 12 or older were classified with substance use disorders in the past year. About half of individuals with severe mental illnesses are also affected by substance abuse, a condition known as having a co-occurring disorder. Of the 45.9 million Americans who experienced mental illnesses, just 17.9 million received mental health treatment. Only 2.6 million people actually received treatment for substance use disorders.
Governor Bentley has proclaimed September as Recovery Month in Alabama. The Division of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, in partnership with several community providers and advocacy groups, has coordinated rallies, runs, open houses and many other events that will take place statewide throughout the month. For information on Recovery Month events, regularly visit the department’s events calendar at www.mh.alabama.gov/COPI/EventsCalendarSeptember2012.aspx or call the MH/SA Division at 334-242-3961.
ADMH is pleased to also announce a new component to this year’s Recovery Month activities – the Celebrate Recovery Challenge. This challenge will recognize the best Recovery Month event held in the state. Providers and organizations will submit brief descriptions of their event, along with pictures, to be included in the voting to win the Celebrate Recovery Challenge. Voting will be held October 9-14, with the winner of the Celebrate Recovery Challenge to be announced October 16. Viewing of submissions and voting will be held on the department’s website. The public is encouraged to vote, along with ADMH stakeholders. More information is forthcoming via ADMH’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Questions about the challenge can be directed to the Office of Public Information at 334-242-3417.
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RESOURCES
For more information on National Recovery Month, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Recovery Month website at http://www.recoverymonth.gov/.
More info about the Celebrate Recovery Challenge will be announced on ADMH’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ALMentalHealth and its Twitter page at www.twitter.com/#!/ALMentalHealth.
For more information, visit http://mh.alabama.gov
For more state-wide press releases, click here
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