ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan Depression Center and the Mental Illness Research Association will present its annual National Media Award to Eric Adelson, a reporter for ESPN The Magazine.

The award recognizes an individual reporter or editor whose work has helped to decrease the stigma associated with mental illness.

Adelson will receive the award for a story published in June 2003 titled “Strong Side,” about John Howell, safety for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who successfully battled depression. He has also written about an Olympic race walker and an Olympic swimmer who have both experienced depression.

“Open discussions of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's or suicide help change policy and are personally liberating,” says John Greden, M.D., executive director of the U-M Depression Center and Rachel Upjohn Professor and chair of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School.

Eric Adelson received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. He has worked at ESPN the Magazine since 1996. His stories have focused on psychosocial issues in sports, including anger, alcoholism, suicide and depression.

MIRA, which is based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., was founded 13 years ago with a mission to fund research into brain disorders and to erase the stigma of mental illnesses through educational programs in the community and in schools.

The U-M Depression Center was the first comprehensive center in the country devoted to depression and bipolar disorder, illnesses that affect 18 million Americans every year. Construction will begin this fall at U-M on the country’s first building dedicated to the treatment and research of depression.

The National Media Award will be presented at the Annual MIRA Gold Key Event on Sept. 10 at Centerpoint Marriott in Pontiac. Tickets are $225. For information, call MIRA at (248) 338-1299.

Contact: Nicole Fawcett

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