NAMI Pennsylvania Announces Program for Annual Statewide ...( Join us October 29th through Nove...),Health

Join us October 29th through November 2nd 2008

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 600 Pennsylvanians are expected to attend the 2008 Annual Conference of The National Alliance on Mental Illness, Pennsylvania (NAMI PA). This year's theme, "Today's Family and the Faces of Mental Illness: A Life's Journey," will focus on the unique and critical role of family and its impact on people living with mental illness. The conference, which is open to the public, will take place Wednesday, October 29th through Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel in Harrisburg.

About one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year in this country. In the Commonwealth alone, a startling three to four million people live with a mental illness. These illnesses have no limits striking individuals of any age and race.

For the fifth consecutive year, the conference will include a special emphasis on mental health within the criminal justice system, a growing challenge for families and mental health advocates. This year's Criminal Justice Symposium will proudly feature Justice Seamus McCaffery, Supreme Court Justice of Pennsylvania, as the keynote speaker (Thursday, October 30, 8:45am - 10:00am). Other featured presenters at this year's conference include:

-- Bernard S. Arons, M.D., Volunteer for the Barack Obama Campaign for

Change, Former Director, Federal Center for Mental Health Services,

Former Mental Health Advisor to Tipper Gore, Office of the Vice

President

-- Saturday, November 1, 1:45pm - 2:45pm

-- Mark Dembert, M.D., Chief Psychiatrist for the Department of Corrections

-- Thursday, October 30, 8:45am - 10:00am

-- Dr. Dan Gottlieb, M.D., Author and Host of NPR's "Voices in

the Family"

-- Friday, October 31, 8:25am - 9:40am

-- Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. & Laura L. Smith, PhD., bo
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