The movie The Soloist, starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Oscar nominee Robert Downey, Jr., may have finished behind the Beyoncé flick Obesessed this past weekend in terms of box office, but it is being mentioned in this post for another reason: highlighting a call to action of sorts regarding adult mental illness in this country.

The Soloist is based on the true story of the unlikely friendship between Nathaniel Ayers, a street musician living in Skid Row, and Steve Lopez, a columnist with the Los Angeles Times. In a series of columns, Lopez reports on Ayers’s journey as a gifted student from the Julliard School of Music to the streets of Los Angeles, living with schizophrenia. 

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects about 2 million Americans — twice the number living with HIV/AIDS. | LINK

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