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Mindful that the media is the public's primary source of mental health information, our organization, Mental Health Media Partnership, is working with the entertainment industry to encourage mental health-related portrayals that enlighten as well as entertain. By serving as a bridge between Hollywood's creative community and mental health experts from across the United States, we hope to promote reliable and accurate depictions of mental health issues.

Some people go untreated and undiagnosed simply because they or their families don't have sufficient information about what's wrong or how to treat it. The media's role in getting the word out about mental disabilities and their treatments is especially helpful because the same stigma that blankets this important problem also impedes people's access to information about it. The entertainment industry can be a terrific vehicle for disseminating accurate information while at the same time telling compelling stories.

We are working with producers, writers and directors to make sure they have up-to-date, research-based information available to them should they tackle a mental health-related subject. We're also planning educational forums geared for entertainment industry professionals to acquaint them with mental health issues, both from factual and experiential standpoints.

We've put together an amalgam of creative options and factual information about mental health treatment and disabilities that the media will be able to tap into free of charge at our new website. We also will be offering a free technical assistance hotline, linking Hollywood creators with mental health experts, and are developing a web site tailored to the specific needs of the entertainment industry.

Knowing that the ultimate goal of the creative community is to tell a good story, we are developing and will soon disseminate story ideas and depiction suggestions about various facets of mental disabilities and treatment that will hopefully engage audiences while dispelling myths and inaccuracies that pervade this area.

The Mental Health Media Partnership is a joint venture by USC's Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and the entertainment industry. We're funded by the Annenberg Trust at Sunnylands and are fortunate enough to have several prominent entertainment industry leaders on our board.