Bringing Mental Health from the Shadows to Main Street America

Under George Washington’s ever watchful eyes in the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait, President Barack Obama on June 3 announced a very important new community campaign for a much different era. The event was an extremely-rare White House National Conference on Mental Health (hashtag #MentalHealthMatters). The President used the historical venue of the East Room to address the debilitating issue of mental illness stigma and to launch a national dialogue on mental health in order to encourage those with mental health and substance use issues to reach out and seek care.

The President underlined his hopes for the national dialogue. He said. “We must bring mental health out of the shadows.” To punctuate this point, he said “We know that treatment works and that recovery is fully possible. There should be no difference between seeking care for a broken arm and seeking care for depression.”  

In the wake of the Newtown Tragedy, persons with mental illness frequently have been labeled and stigmatized inappropriately. Clearly, these reactions by community members result from fear of mental illness, lack of understanding about such illnesses, and lack of knowledge about recovery, effective treatment, and prevention. Such reactions do have a major negative impact upon persons who experience these conditions, and actually make them fearful to seek care. This problem also extends to our military veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with these conditions, as noted by Secretary Eric Shinseki of the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Almost one in four Americans struggle with mental health or substance use problems each year.  Yet, only 40% of those with mental illnesses and only 10 % of those with substance use conditions receive any care.  Those who need help too often are afraid to seek help because of the shame and secrecy associated with their condition. The new national dialogue will address how we all can work together to reduce stigma, and help the millions of Americans struggling with mental health or substance use problems recognize the importance of reaching out for assistance. 

The conference brought together people from across the country, including individuals who have struggled with mental health and substance use problems and their family members, mental health advocates, educators, health care providers, faith leaders, and representatives from federal, state, county, and local governments.  

Discussion panels were led by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of HHS and Secretary Arne Duncan of the Department of Education. Both highlighted the importance of support from friends, family, and one’s community. The latter panel also explored the critical role of social media in reaching tweens, teens, and young adults.

Simultaneously, HHS launched on June 3 a new website, MentalHealth.gov, to continue the conversation begun at the White House Conference. The purpose of the website is to provide mental health information and resources for individuals struggling with mental health problems, friends and family members, educators, and other community members. Specifically, the site will feature information regarding the basic signs of mental health problems, how to talk about mental health, and ways to find help.

To continue the conversation after June 3, HHS will use Storify.com to aggregate and share information about mental health. Through Storify, HHS will be able to capture YouTube videos, photos, and other multimedia made publicly available by other organizations and share this content with others on the MentalHealth.gov Storify channel:www.storify.com/mentalhealthgov. Storify will automatically capture many posts that use the hashtag #MentalHealthMatters.

In his comments closing the National Conference, Vice President Joseph Biden  highlighted the very important role that the Affordable Care Act will play in extending parity and mental health and substance use insurance coverage to millions of Americans. He also reflected on his own personal health issues and family tragedies, as well as those of his former colleagues in the US Senate. These experiences have given him a much graeter appreciation that we can reduce stigma in two ways: by adding mental and substance use screens to traditional annual physicals, and by integrating behavioral health and primary care. Finally, he thanked all Conference participants for their lifetime of commitment to improving behavioral healthcare.      

Our hats are off to President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Duncan, and Secretary Shinseki for the outstanding leadership they each continue to demonstrate. Prevention, early recognition, and early intervention for mental and substance use conditions will occur only if we take the necessary steps in our local communities to reduce stigma and improve access to quality mental health and substance use care. Our national leaders have taken an important first step in this new direction on Main Street America.