Elizabeth Adams, executive director of NAMI Kansas, the National Alliance on Mental Health, says the recently-released Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health will go a long ways toward changing the way America thinks about mental illness. And, she says, it does so by identifying and calling for the elimination of the stigma attached to mental illness.

"We fear what we don’t understand," Adams said. "Fear is based on ignorance and is behind the stigma. Do you remember when everybody was afraid of cancer? People used to avoid those with cancer – they though they could catch it.

"But today, we all know that people recover from cancer," Adams said. "We’ll see the same thing with mental illness. Mental health must flow in the mainstream of health."

In the report, "Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General," Surgeon General David Satcher highlights a number of problems in the field of mental illness:

*Tragic and devastating disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disease, Alzheimer’s disease, the mental and behavior disorders suffered by children, and a range of other mental health disorders affect nearly one in five Americans in any year, yet continue too frequently to be spoken of in whispers and shame.

*Even more than other areas of health and medicine, the mental health field is plagued by disparities in the availability of and access to services.

*Even today, everyday language encourages a misperception that mental health or mental illness is unrelated to physical health or physical illness. In fact, the two are inseparable.

*A key disparity often hinges on a person’s financial status; formidable financial barriers

block off needed mental health care from too many people regardless of whether one has health insurance with inadequate mental health benefits, or is one of the 44 million Americans who lack any insurance, the report said.

"We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness about the opportunities for recovery from mental illness to erect these barriers," Satcher said in the preface.

Karen Suddath, mental health director in the Health Care Policy Division of the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), said she is hopeful the Surgeon General’s Report will bring about changes. She said the department supports the report completely.

In Kansas, it is estimated that almost 100,000 people each year suffer from serious mental illness. The estimate comes from two household surveys where respondents to the surveys were defined as having serious mental illness if their disorder substantially interfered with the ability to work; created serious interpersonal difficulties; was associated with a suicide plan or attempt; or if the disorder met criteria for severe mental illness as defined by the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Bryce Miller of Topeka, a board member of NAMI Kansas, is listed as a contributor to the Surgeon General’s report. He said the problems brought on by the stigma against mental illness, including an unwarranted sense of hopelessness about recovery, are highlighted in the report.

Miller said the disparity in insurance coverage for mental disorders in contrast to other illnesses is a problem in Kansas. He said increasing the availability of insurance coverage for mental disorders is cost effective in the long run.

"Look at the number of people who are off the job because of depression," he said. "Reducing the stigma and getting mental health parity with other illnesses, those are the immediate issues raised in the report."

Adams, the executive director of NAMI Kansas, predicted the report will have a far-reaching impact.

"The message is – we must change the way the way America thinks about mental illness," Adams said, pointing to a previous surgeon general’s report and its still-felt effect on smoking.

"It takes time to disseminate all this information," she said.

In the final chapter of the Surgeon General’s Report, Dr. Satcher concludes that a range of treatments of documented efficacy exists for most mental disorders. Based on this finding, the report’s principal recommendation to the American people is to "seek help if you have a mental health problem or think you have symptoms of a mental disorder."

Satcher also said we should continue to build the science base, overcome the stigma, improve public awareness of effective treatment, ensure the supply of mental health services and providers, facilitate entry into treatment, and reduce financial barriers to treatment.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001