Mental illness is very common. It affects one in five adults and one in ten children. It could be your sister, parent, grandparent, friend, neighbor or co-worker. It knows no bounds and affects all ages, races, sexes and economic status. It affects teachers, doctors, lawyers, business owners and students. There is a level playing field in terms of who has a mental illness. Unfortunately, there is not a level playing field in terms of how mental illness is treated. Mental illness is not viewed in the same way as other illnesses. People blame the individual or parents and don’t readily recognize the biological nature of mental illness. This leads to stigma, which prevents people from identifying symptoms and receiving early treatment. And yet, the earlier the treatment, the better the outcomes. Some businesses and health insurance plans don’t view the treatment for mental illness as necessary and so either don’t cover it or place unnecessary limits on treatment. Yet, the national loss of productivity of mental illness is about $63 billion. While the Minnesota Legislature passed mental health parity years ago, Congress has yet to do the same. Untreated or under-treated mental illness leads to great disruption in people’s lives. Sometimes people lose their jobs or drop out of school; some end up in our jails and prisons; other times people lose their very lives. These unintended consequences don’t have to occur. The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health stated, “We envision a future when everyone with a mental illness will recover, a future when mental illnesses can be prevented or cured, a future when mental illnesses are detected early, and a future when everyone with a mental illness at any stage of life has access to effective treatment and supports“ essentials for living, working, learning and participating fully in the community.” Our communities must embrace this vision and carry it out in their home, neighborhood, school, workplace and place of worship. We must begin a dialogue where mental illness is treated like any other and support the development of community treatment and supports so that children and adults can celebrate recovery. Sue Abderholden is executive director/or the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Minnesota. To contact NAMI-MN call 1-888-473-0237 or go to www.nami.org/namimn.