Advocacy Perspective

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Advocacy groups like the National Alliance for theMentally Ill (NAMI) have spent the last 25 years supporting research for a new generation of medications totreat major mental illness, recognizing that the old medications had significant problems with side effects and, insome cases, efficacy. About 10 years ago, new medications—atypical antipsychotics and new antidepressants—began to appear. There was great celebration within NAMIbecause, for the first time, scientific advances joined withother evidence-based treatments and services to create asystem where we could begin to achieve recovery frommental illness.’ ‹