This is Mental Illness Awareness Week in Iowa as advocates try to draw attention to mental illness needs in the Hawkeye State. Peg Shelton is a spokeswoman for the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Iowa.Shelton says the Alliance is trying to urge state and local leaders to take steps needed to end the unemployment, homelessness, poverty and social isolation that marks the lives of people with mental illness.Nearly 90-percent of all people who commit suicide suffer from a treatable mental illness. Dozens of locations across Iowa will offer free depression screenings on Thursday. Shelton says the screenings are free and anonymous.For more information on the screenings, call 800 573-4433.
