The statistics are sobering: one in every four families has a member with a mental illness; one in every 16 to 17 prison inmates has a mental health disorder; one in 10 children and one in five adults has a mental health condition. In addition, nearly 45 percent of those with any mental disorder meet the criteria for two or more disorders.

Citing these and other statistics, Dr. Mary Moller made a compelling case for improved treatment of the mentally ill during the Janet Sipple Lecture at Moravian College this fall. The annual address was established to recognize Sipple, founding chair of the Department of Nursing at Moravian College. Sipple retired in 2006 but continues to teach first to fourth year nursing students. The Sipple Lectureship series addresses international healthcare, world community service, leadership, or public health and is open members of the Lehigh Valley Community.

This year's Sipple lecturer is an associate professor in the Yale University School of Nursing, where she is the specialty director for psychiatric-mental health nursing. Moller is dually certified as a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric-mental health nursing and a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner.

In her talk, titled "The Growing Concern about Mental Health Issues in the Nation," Dr. Moller cited the drastic effects of untreated mental illness: roughly 216,000 adults in the United States with untreated mental illness are homeless and 400,000 are in jail or prison; around 13,000 suicides are committed annually by people with manic, psychotic or depressive symptoms, and roughly 50 percent of mass killings are committed by individuals with untreated severe mental illness.

Moller noted that, for all the dire effects of untreated mental illness, of the 7.8 million people with serious and persistent mental illness, 3.5 million go untreated. Less than a third of adults and half of children who need services receive them.

Moller argued that this situation is due in part to lack of awareness of the impact of mental illness on the individual and society. She also noted that a mere 3 percent of the total healthcare expenditures in the United States goes to mental health care. Finally, a large part of the problem stems from the centuries-old stigma associated with mental illness. This and discrimination against the mentally ill have created barriers to the treatment needed by the mentally ill.

Declaring herself a "stigma buster," Moller urged nursing students, who comprised most of her audience, to become knowledgeable about the deficiencies in the state's mental care system and to advocate for improvement in the treatment of mental illness. She closed her talk by urging them to consider a career in mental health nursing.