Many surveys indicate that stigma and prejudice against people with mental health problems are reduced when people are better informed

Stamp Out Stigma is a consumer driven advocacy and educational outreach program designed to make positive changes in the public perception of mental illness and inform the community about the personal, social, economic and political challenges faced by people living with mental illness.

In October 1990 Stamp Out Stigma was formed by a group of individuals, diagnosed with mental illness, who were dismayed at the media's portrayal of the mentally ill as being violent, unproductive, uneducated, dangerous and an economic drain on society. Their goal was to create an organization that would provide educational outreach to the community in order to dispel the negative myths and stereotypes to create a more informed and supportive community. In order to spread their message and personal experiences Stamp Out Stigma chose a unique approach to communicating with the community - an interactive panel of four to six speakers share their personal stories with an audience thus giving them a personal glimpse into the lives of real people living with mental illness.

This approach turned out to be extremely successful. To date Stamp Out Stigma has made more than 900 presentations, reaching over 47,000 people throughout Northern California. The diversity of our audiences includes:

Stamp Out Stigma has also presented workshops at national conventions, including a conference sponsored by the FBI to develop a training manual for 14,000 law enforcement agencies whose staff regularly interacts with people who have psychiatric disabilities.