Yesterday, the Surgeon General's office issued a comprehensive new report on Mental Illness in America, the first report of its kind in terms of scope and source. According to the report's findings, one in five Americans experiences a mental illness in any given year and half experience a mental disorder at some time in their lives. But the report's most compelling language was reserved for the obstacles to effective treatment of the mentally ill. Citing stigmas, ignorance of the efficacy of treatment, and a health insurance system that does not accord the same coverage (or respect) to mental illnesses as it does to physical ones, the report calls for an expansion in the supply of mental health services and, specifically, an increase in the number of mental health professionals caring for children and adolescents. Michael M. Faenza, president of the National Mental Health Association, said the report could be a turning point, if it improves access to services, or "it could be meaningless, if Congress and state legislators do not have the backbone and the political will to act on it."