Mental Illness Awareness Week

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“Together for Mental Health” is the theme of this year’s Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) Oct. 3-9. Resources are available on the Diocese of Davenport’s Office of Faith Formation MIAW web page (https://www.davenportdiocese.org/miaw).

The Faith Formation Office reactivated its web page from last year’s MIAW project. It features livestreams and workshops with Roy Petitfils, and the handouts from these programs, along with many resources on mental health, said Don Boucher, the Faith Formation Office’s director. Among the resources are prayer cards of St. Dymphna, patron saint of mental illness, and St. John of God, patron saint of hospitals, nurses and the sick.

The prayer cards are 5 cents each plus postage. Purchase them in time for National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding (Oct. 5). “These would make a wonderful give-away to youth and parishioners to raise awareness of and show support for those who suffer from mental illness,” Boucher said.

Millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition and that affects everyone directly or indirectly through family, friends or coworkers. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) works year-round to raise awareness about mental illness, fight discrimination and provide support. The awareness campaign the first week of October highlights that effort (https://tinyurl.com/2javjav5).

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This year’s campaign focuses on advocating for better care for persons with serious mental illness. The NAMI MIAW website features videos of people with lived experience talking about their everyday lives coping with their serious mental illness and the need for better crisis response and mental health care.


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