Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter Seeks to Break the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health Issues

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who spoke before a crowd of about 300 people in Arnold on Monday, said that mental illness is similar to any medical illness.

With medication, treatment and education, people suffering from mental illnesses can live meaningful and productive lives in the community,” Carter said at the Comtrea-sponsored brunch at the Roy Wilde Conference Center.

Comtrea, a nonprofit organization that provides family counseling, mental health and substance abuse treatment in Jefferson County and South County, sponsored the event.

Carter said the challenge is dispelling the myths and stigma surrounding mental illness.

Decent people should not be neglected or discriminated because of a physical hurdle caused by no fault of their own, Carter said.

“People suffering from a mental illness are four times more likely to victims of a crime,” Carter said. People with mental illness lack self-esteem and one in four people are diagnosed with the illness each year, she said.

Incidents such as the shooting in Tucson, AZ occur because the mental health system failed, she said.

Overcoming the stigma of mental illness is the main barrier, Carter said. “They are afraid of discovering they have an illness.”

That fear, Carter said, prevents people from being properly diagnosed, receiving treatment and living meaningful and productive lives.

Carter said she began working on mental health issues on 1966 while working on her husband’s first gubernatorial campaign. Carter told the crowd that, during the campaign, she met an exhausted woman, working a third-shift job to pay for her daughter’s mental health care benefits.

After work, the woman would return home to care for her daughter during the daytime, Carter said. The woman’s husband cared for the daughter at night. He worked during the day to pay for their living expenses.

“I was so worried about this woman,” Carter said. “How could she return to work without sleep?”

Comtrea President and CEO Steven Huss said Medical researchers and specialists have a better understanding of the brain and can treat people with mental illness.

Recovery is a new term that health professionals have used in the last few years, Huss said.

Early detection, observing how a baby reacts with people and annual health examinations are ways to detect illness, both Carter and Huss said.