WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday urged people with mental illness to seek help as his administration unveiled new initiatives.
Obama called for bringing mental illness "out of the shadows" at the National Conference on Mental Health.
"We want to let people living with mental health challenges know that they are not alone," Obama told the audience.
The president also stressed that the administration has been doing more to support the troops and veterans who are suffering from things like traumatic brain injury or PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Today, we lose 22 veterans a day to suicide -- 22," said Obama, noting that the number had increased substantially in the last decade. He urged the nation to do a better job of preventing " these all-too-often silent tragedies."
The administration announced a series of public-private partnerships on Monday designed to increase discussion and awareness of mental illness.
Facebook, Google, Twitter, MTV and the National Association of Broadcasters, among others, are partnering up for a special public service campaign later this summer aimed at creating a national dialogue about mental health.
The National Institute of Mental Health reported that one in four of American adults, about 58 million Americans, experience the mental health disorder every year.
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