Mental Illness Awareness Week – October 4, 2026

Expected Mental Illness Awareness Week Deals

Mental Illness Awareness Week is a crucial time for advocacy and fundraising, rather than commercial deals. Organizations like NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Mental Health America (MHA), and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) often partner with corporations for donation-matching campaigns, charity runs, and public education initiatives. Look for opportunities to donate directly or participate in events that support mental health research and services. Brands like Starbucks and CVS Health may offer special programs or round-up-at-checkout options to benefit mental health causes. We encourage visiting official organizational websites for verified ways to contribute during this important week.

History of Mental Illness Awareness Week

National Alliance of Mental Illness (N.A.M.I) started as the Parents of Adult Schizophrenics, a nonprofit association that was made up of family support groups that were seeking answers and treatments for their loved ones affected by mental illness. They then changed their name to Alliance for the Mentally Ill of San Mateo. The creation of this organization spurred a national movement where members pushed for more research, greater support, and broader public awareness. The growth of this movement resulted in the establishment of the National Alliance on Mental Illness: the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. In 1979 the National Alliance on Mental Illness was incorporated.

The Alliance opened its first offices in Washington in 1980, and in 1982 it was appointed to the National Mental Health Advisory Council. In 1984 “Shattered Dreams” and “Scrapbook” were aired nationally; these were N.A.M.I.’s first public service announcements. In 1990, N.A.M.I established the N.A.M.I HelpLine. In the same year, Congress officially established Mental Illness Awareness Week. In 1999, N.A.M.I participated in the first White House Conference on Mental Health and launched the N.A.M.I Family Support Group.

The StigmaFree campaign was launched in 2015, it was celebrated by the lighting of the Empire State Building green. That year they also partnered with Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc., the nation’s oldest sorority founded by African American college women. Their goal was to expand mental health education, awareness, and support activities on campuses and in local communities. In 2019 “Stop the Stigma: A Conversation About Mental Health,” featuring N.A.M.I experts, was aired on “CBS This Morning.” It was also in 2019 that the N.A.M.I Provider program became part of the curriculum for the Des Moines University School of Osteopathic Medicine third-year medical students.