A third myth says that seeking professional help "is a sign of weakness." Instead, such attitudes tend to be generated by fear and ignorance, he said. "Some believe that no one who is right with the Lord has a nervous breakdown or needs medication."

Such beliefs complicate treatment because it's often difficult to convince the mentally ill to acknowledge there is a problem, let alone to seek help for it, he said. "God doesn't need a psychiatrist, but sometimes his Saints do."

Some believe that medication is bad, he said, invoking a cultural concern that too many Latter-day Saints take Prozac for minor problems that should be handled by other means. Yet statistically, Hawks said, for every LDS congregation of several hundred, approximately 24 would be predicted to need medication for mental illness.

Other myths include the "easy belief" that the mentally ill simply lack willpower or they are psychotic, severely impaired and have nothing to offer. Yet the majority of those who suffer some type of mental illness and are being properly treated are successful in their professions.

Many are community leaders including doctors, attorneys, dentists and businesspeople. "They simply are not 'less than' you or me."

Co-presenter Jack Marshall, an instructor at the University of Utah's LDS Institute of Religion, said he and his family have experienced some of the pain associated with the myths surrounding mental illness. After his son committed suicide, many friends and fellow church members gathered to offer comfort, but one in particular stayed away.

When asked later why, she said if she had experienced such a loss, she would want others to "leave me alone," possibly in part because of the stigma attached to his death.

Yet "the love and time and attention and caring" of so many around them "made such a difference to us." The family has felt much the same way about those who have been sensitive to their daughter's struggle with mental illness.

He suggested that friends and family "remind them of their own goodness, encourage them away from self-incrimination and praise them for their efforts."

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com