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Rosalynn Carter

Highlights from the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 5/24/2024

Highlights from the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy Every year, the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program gathers together some of the leading policy makers, professionals, and advocates in mental health to discuss a given topic. Led by Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the program features panel discussions and then working groups to discuss and craft future policy recommendations. This year’s focus of the 28th annual symposium was on the same topic as it was during the first symposium — stigma in mental health.

As Mrs. Carter noted, many things have changed in the intervening 27 years. She noted they didn’t even have a person living with mental illness attend the first symposium, and while the impact of stigma has diminished somewhat, it remains an ongoing problem. She believes social inclusion is “an important anecdote to stigma,” a sentiment that I couldn’t agree more with.

Keynotes were presented by Elyn Saks, a law professor at the University of Southern California, who talked about her own experiences with discrimination and prejudice; and Graham Thornicroft, Ph.D., a professor of Community Psychiatry at King’s College London, who talked about what we mean by stigma and mental illness, and its impact on society.

Here’s a brief synopsis…

5/24/2024 0 comment

How Psychology, Psychiatry Discriminate Against People with Mental Illness

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 5/21/2024

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

How Psychology, Psychiatry Discriminate Against People with Mental Illness While attending the 28th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy at The Carter Center last week, it occurred to me that mental health professionals are some of the worst when it comes to discriminating against people with mental illness.

They do this in insidious and subtle ways, suggesting a patient can’t do the things others without mental illness can do. Like hold down a job, get into independent housing, interact in social situations or even just go back to school and get a degree.

They also do this in more direct ways, by suggesting to their patients applying for a job or going back to school that, “If they don’t ask about mental illness, don’t volunteer that information.” Why not?

Why are mental health professionals helping to contribute to discrimination and stigma about mental illness by making these suggestions?

5/21/2024 21 comments

Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, 2011-2012

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 10/2/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, 2011-2012 The Carter Center Mental Health Program announced today their annual call for applications for fellowships in mental health journalism. Their announcement follows.

Applications from U.S. residents are now being accepted for six one-year journalism fellowships with the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program. These fellowships aim to enhance public understanding of mental health issues and reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses through balanced and accurate reporting. The postmark deadline for applications is April 18, 2011, and the fellowship recipients will be announced July 15, 2011, on the Center’s website, www.cartercenter.org. The 2011-2012 fellowship year begins in September 2011.

“Informed journalists can have a significant impact on public understanding of mental health issues, as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey,” says former First Lady and Carter Center Mental Health Program Founder Rosalynn Carter.

10/2/2023 0 comment

In Honor of Those Who Serve, 2010

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 8/21/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

In Honor of Those Who Serve, 2010 Today is Veteran’s Day, and we’d like to take a moment to honor those men and women who have chosen to serve our country in military service. With an all-voluntary armed forces, our country is at the mercy of individuals who, for little reason other than a desire to serve their country, willingly risk their lives and put their entire ordinary lives on hold (especially those in the National Guard and reservists). For you and I.

We should do all that we can to ensure these folks come back to a country who welcomes them home, is thankful for their service, and provides them with all the necessary health and mental health care humanly possible. That’s our duty, as ordinary citizens, to recognize the sacrifice these men and women have made.

I’d also like to take a moment to recognize a number of organizations that were present this year at the 26th annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy this year, who offer help and mental health services to returning veterans.

8/21/2023 2 comments

Honoring Soldiers When They Come Home

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 8/19/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Honoring Soldiers When They Come Home Last week at the 26th annual Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Policy Symposium, I came away from the two days feeling like there are a lot of people who know and care about the issues discussed. This year’s topic was on helping returning soldiers — especially the National Guard and Reservists — reintegrate within their family, the workplace, and the community.

It seems timely to talk about some of these issues to honor tomorrow, Veterans Day.

The most moving stories for me came from the day’s first panel discussion, focused on the family. Ron Capps, a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, told his story of dealing with the realities of war, and then of coming home and dealing with his feelings.

“At the end of the day, I found myself categorizing myself as ‘All right, vaguely not all right, and seriously not all right.'”

8/19/2023 3 comments

Patrick Kennedy on Mental Illness and Treatment

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 8/17/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Patrick Kennedy on Mental Illness and Treatment This year’s Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy focused on the question of how to help veterans — centering on the National Guard and reservists — reintegrate within their community when they come home. The Guard and reservists have an especially difficult time, because they are outside the usual military structure of benefits and services (although more recently, some benefits have been extended to them because of the extended fighting in the two wars the U.S. has been engaged in in Afghanistan and Iraq).

The two-day meeting presented views, personal stories and data on three main themes of veterans’ “reintegration” — within the family, the workplace and the community. It also offered the opportunity to learn about dozens of great service programs around the country that are reaching out and trying to help this group of returning soldiers (during a poster session).

Today, I’m going to focus on the beginning of the symposium, because of Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s energetic opening remarks to the group.

8/17/2023 12 comments

The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 2/17/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

The Carter Center's Mental Health Program Last week while attending the 25th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, I had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting for a few moments with Thomas Bornemann, Ed.D. who has served as the Director of The Carter Center Mental Health Program for the past seven years.

If you didn’t know, The Carter Center has been a leading force in helping to coordinate national mental health policy over the past two and a half decades. It does most of its work behind the scenes and is rarely noted for what it does best — bringing all stakeholders to the same table to talk and work on how they can advance policy and mental health agendas in the country. They do this through year-round work and collaborations with legislatures, advocates, organizations, non-profits, and others. And they hold an annual symposium that they describe like this:

In 1985, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter initiated the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy to bring together national leaders in mental health to focus and coordinate their efforts on an issue of common concern.

The symposia have represented a unique opportunity each year for this leadership to hear remarks from a variety of individuals with expertise on a selected topic; discuss diverse viewpoints in an open forum; identify areas of consensus and potential collaborations as well as points of divergence; and to recommend action steps for symposium participants to move an agenda forward.

Held each November, the symposia have examined such issues as mental illness and the elderly, child and adolescent illness, family coping, financing mental health services and research, treating mental illness in the primary care setting, and stigma and mental illness.

Of course, in the past decade, mental health (professionally, often referred to as “behavioral health”) and substance abuse in this country have undergone some significant changes. One of the more significant is the increasing communication among health professions — primary care physicians talking to mental health professionals, mental health professionals talking to substance abuse professionals, and so on.

“One of the most striking things I’ve seen happen has been the reduction in the silos between a lot of the disciplines we have to work with,” said Dr. Thomas Bornemann. “I have never seen the mental health and substance abuse worlds cooperating on the same agenda as they are doing now.”

Dr. Bornemann echoed that cooperation with primary care doctors has also improved substantially.

“We all go through primary care to get our health care,” Dr. Bornemann continued. “It doesn’t matter what diagnosis you receive, you will have to go through primary care to get there. Primary care is that doorway in, but it’s now a far more receptive doorway [for mental health concerns].”

He was also quick to note that he wasn’t just talking about primary care physicians, though, since a lot of specialties have increased their behavioral health focus and outreach as well.

“Primary care is broader than a single physicianâ€¦ Pediatrics, for instance, is a key component of reaching out to children early in their lives. Pediatricians have the ability to start catching issues much earlier, perhaps even preventing them from turning into adult concerns. OBGYN doctors for women can help reach out to women, for things like postpartum depression.”

I asked Dr. Bornemann about some of the achievements the program is most proud of in the past few years, and naturally the conversation turned to the national parity law passed last year which takes effect on January 1, 2010. This law makes it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against mental health concerns, such as the common practices of limiting their treatment or denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

(left) Carter Center Mental Health Program Director Thomas Bornemann Ed.D. and (right) former First Lady Rosalynn Carter share notes from the 25th anniversary Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. The 2009 symposium theme was “Health Care Reform: Challenges and Opportunities for Behavioral Health Care Reform.”

“I’m proud of the work we did behind the scenes on parity. But remember, we were just one small player among many. Mrs. Carter played a particularly strong role, particularly near the end, when she made endless phone calls and visits with legislatures to help ensure its passage.”

“Working with our colleagues in many different organizations, we all banded together and got it done. That was very rewarding to finally see happen after all these years.”

In addition to its behind-the-scenes work on national mental health parity, The Carter Center was also instrumental in helping to craft how to get the message out for the groundbreaking Surgeon General’s report on mental health, the first of its kind. What makes The Carter Center’s role in mental health policy unique?

“Our voice and our organizational abilities can help bring disparate groups to work together,” Dr. Bornemann noted.

“We work with universities, academics, advocates, government entities, pharmaceutical companies, health plans, but we’re not owned by any of them. We bring those groups together and serve in a catalytic function.”

“We don’t have a dog in the race. We’re uniquely positioned to help these groups come together, communicate, learn to work together.”

In two upcoming blog entries, I’ll be discussing Georgia’s struggle with its state mental health programs and facilities (which will be familiar to regular readers of World of Psychology), as well as the specific recommendations that came out of the 25th symposium.

Learn more about The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program.

2/17/2023 1 comment

Carter Center Awards 2009-2010 Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 11/30/2022

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

The Carter Center does good work to help promote de-stigmatizing mental health information and journalism, so I thought this announcement was worth reproducing here to help them publicize this year’s fellowship awards.

After receiving a record number of applicants, the Carter Center’s Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism — the only journalism fellowships exclusively for mental health — announced today the winners of its 2009-2010 awards (see below for full list of fellows and their project topics). Since 1996, the fellowship program has educated more than 100 journalists, who set the standard in their field for accurate and sensitive portrayals of mental health issues.

“Journalists have a very important role to play in shaping the public’s perception of mental illnesses,” said former First Lady and Carter Center Co-founder Rosalynn Carter. “If a news piece or a book shows what mental illness is really like, people will understand that mental illnesses happen to so many of us, and fortunately, even the most serious mental illnesses can be treated and most people can recover.”

Mental health problems are typically under-reported compared to other health issues, and the fellowships allow journalists to remain in their own newsrooms, pursuing topics that may not otherwise be brought to the public’s attention (see below for examples of fellows’ projects).

Each domestic fellow is awarded a stipend of US$10,000 to study and report on a particular issue within the field for one year and receives training on covering mental health issues from leading experts. Currently, fellowships also are offered to two journalists from South Africa and two from Romania, and they receive a comparable stipend.

Previous fellows have produced more than 300 stories, documentaries, books, and other works. Fellows’ projects have garnered awards from Mental Health America (formerly the National Mental Health Association), the American Psychological Association, Amnesty International, and the Association of Health Care Journalists, as well as Emmy and Pulitzer Prize nominations.

The fellowships are part of the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, which works around the world to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses and decrease incorrect and stereotypical information. In addition, The Carter Center conducts pioneering work on many other health fronts, including spearheading the historic campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, integrating neglected disease prevention, and building health infrastructure in some of the world’s most impoverished communities.

The 2009-2010 Recipients of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowships

The U.S. recipients are:

Rachel Aviv
Freelance Journalist
Brooklyn, NY

Topic: Report on the mental health needs of children in rural areas and focus on the stories of families that have relinquished custody of their children in order to have mental health care provided to them.

Elizabeth Bernstein
The Wall Street Journal
Brooklyn, NY

Topic: Examine the impact of the economic recession on people with mental illnesses.

Michael Biesecker
The News and Observer
Durham, NC

Topic: Investigate the treatment of people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities in North Carolina’s jails and prisons.

Nicolae Ciorogan
WHDH-TV (NBC) Boston
Arlington, MA

Topic: Produce a television series on how immigrants from different cultures cope with depression in a family member.

Tamara Jeffries
Freelance Journalist
Durham, NC

Topic: Explore the issue of postpartum depression in African-American women.

Joanne Silberner
National Public Radio
Washington, DC

Topic: Produce radio stories on the treatment of mental illnesses in developing countries.

The South African recipients are:

Glynnis Horning
Freelance
Durban, South Africa

Topic: Examine depression and the stigma surrounding it in South Africans living with HIV/AIDS.

Metzi Van der Merwe
SABC Radio News
Cresta, South Africa

Topic: Produce a series of radio stories on the accommodation of people with mental illnesses into the workplace.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships would like to acknowledge their partnership with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Romanian recipients are:

Georgiana Ilie
Freelance Journalist
Bucharest, Romania

Topic: Reveal the mental health problems associated with family loss as a result of a lack of support systems for affected families.

RÄƒzvan Vintilescu
Cotidianul, Realitatea-Catavencu Media Group
Bucharest, Romania
Topic: Examine the Romanian mental health care system.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships would like to acknowledge their partnership with the Center for Independent Journalism, Bucharest, Romania.

11/30/2022 4 comments