Rosalynn Carter Launches Book Tour - Within Our Reach, Ending the Mental Health Crisis

We all need routines and rituals in our daily lives. Being somewhat of a news junkie, my favorite thing to do before I go to sleep, is to watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In fact, his program is one of the best sources of the news. He and his writers see the irony and hypocrisy in everything. Conservatives don't think he is funny but that fact, makes him more entertaining for me. Let's just say I'm a fan. I like going to sleep having a good laugh. It puts the cherry on top of whatever kind of day its been or mood I may be in. This past week has been reruns of recent shows which normally might irk me. However, there was a string of a couple of weeks that put me down earlier than my usual 11:30 pm. Despite being able to catch the show at 7 pm the following night, my schedule doesn't always coincide with this convenience. Last evening's show had Rosalynn Carter as the guest. She was promoting her new book and advocacy for the mentally ill. After 39 years as an advocate, she stated unequivocately, "It is no better than when I started". Nationally, the stigma is so bad despite the fact that 1 out of 4 Americans experience a spectrum of mental illnesses, she told him. We learn that there is no test, no antidote that works. How was Stewart going to handle this dignified 83 year old former First Lady? This is a sensitive subject that she is passionate about. He did so with a compassionate heart and typical insight. He commented that knowing of people with a mental illness is like watching a rabbit go down a hole and never come back. Got that right. Some of us are doing our best on our comebacks, whatever way we measure them. She was hopeful about brain research and pharmaceutical breakthroughs. What caught my attention was that she said we began to deinstitutionalized those with mental illness before a system of community care could be created. This led to re-institutionalization. Prisons and jails hold the largest number of mentally ill in our country. We have money for prisons but not community mental health facilities. She could of added, but did not, that the USA has the largest jail and prison system in the world. Who's going to get treatment in a prison or jail? After nearly 40 years of advocacy, she has written a stinging indictment on the US Mental Health system in her book "Within Our Reach". The following is a quote from "Within Our Reach":

Americans think of ourselves as decent, generous, and compassionate people, and for the most part we are. But we treat a large portion of our own population as if they are second-class citizens. Ultimately, the way we treat people with mental illnesses in our society is a moral issue—to neglect those, who through no fault of their own, are in need runs counter to our core principles—the values of decency and equality that we hold dear.

This is a moral issue. This is why I write. Our national mental health is in a crisis. Do you get it? Thank you, Mrs. Carter for your goodness, kindness, years of dedicated service and for being a voice in the darkness and wilderness for those of us with a mental illness. I wonder, grand lady, who will take up your mantel? Rosalynn Carter Launches Book Tour - Within Our Reach, Ending the Mental Health Crisis