May 21, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 85 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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Mental Health Awareness Month (Executive Calendar); Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 85
(Senate - May 21, 2019)
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[Pages S2996-S2997] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Mental Health Awareness Month Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, this month is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the goal of Mental Health Awareness Month is to recognize the importance for personal well-being, the need for research and education, dispelling the stigmas associated with mental illness, and to improve mental healthcare to ensure that care is available to ensure that the first episode of mental illness is the last. A goal with Mental Health Awareness Month is the awareness that is necessary for the programs to be implemented so that that young person with their first episode is returned to wholeness, and, again, as I said earlier, the first episode is the last. It recognizes that mental health is a societal issue associated with homelessness, crime, suicide, physical health, and public health issues. Now, when you speak of mental health, it is a little bit almost like: Oh, my gosh, this is going to be a futile issue. It is so difficult for someone who has serious mental illness to return them to wholeness. It is so difficult that sometimes the individual, their family, and society throws up their hands and says: There is nothing to do, so why try. You see manifestations of that with the homeless people walking around this city and every city in the United States, many of whom are mentally ill; yet there can be hope. I called a person back home from Baton Rouge, LA, and asked her for a [[Page S2997]] story, if you will, of how someone with mental illness issues can be returned to wholeness, so let me tell you about Mary. When you walk with Mary, you can't help but feel happy, happy, happy. That is because Mary radiates the joy of how Capital Area Human Services helped change her life. Mary says: I go out and help the community every day. I became successful in my life because of my faith in God and because of the wonderful people at Capital Area Human Services. Today I give back to the community what Capital Area has given to me. It wasn't always this way. For nearly 20 years before being referred to Capital Area Human Services, Mary lived in group homes and was dependent upon others for basic needs. I am now quoting Mary: I weighed 340 pounds. I was sick all the time, was in and out of hospitals. I was barely able to function. I was on so many medicines I could not keep track. When Mary came to Capital Area Human Services in 2006, she was first helped at the Margaret Dumas Center at the Government Street location. She eventually entered the total health program, and even more dramatic changes began. Now, let me point out as a physician--I am a doctor--I have learned from folks such as the people I am quoting now that mental health is often associated with physical health problems. So someone who is seriously mentally ill is more likely to die in their 50s than they are in their 80s with untreated hypertension, diabetes, or perhaps, because they are homeless, subject to violence on the streets. So let me now go back to Mary's story. When she entered the total health program, she lost nearly 100 pounds, no longer needed to take blood pressure medicine, changed her diet, participated in fitness programs, and continued to attend mental health therapy sessions. Today Mary is a different person. She lives independently in her own apartment, attends Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, walks 2 hours every day to volunteer for various duties at the St. Agnes Catholic Church soup kitchen, where she also sings for the attendees. Mary credits the nuns at St. Agnes for teaching her how to cook, prepare meals, and serve. Also, Mary is a regular volunteer at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and at the Baton Rouge General Hospital chapel, where she reads Scriptures for some of the services. Mary said she loves Capital Area Human Services, tells everyone she knows about the people who helped her, particularly Kesha, John, the staff at Margaret Dumas, the staff at the Government Street location, and former total health employees Roy and Ricky. She says: I was motivated and didn't give up. It made me happy to do this for myself. I proved that I could do it, and I'm doing it. It's winter, but I'm out there anyway. Now, I give that kind of personal story to give an example of someone with serious mental illness returned to wholeness. Now, I love that because I always tell folks when I speak that we in Washington, DC, can propose legislation, but unless there is local leadership, nothing good happens. In 2016, I collaborated with Chris Murphy, as well as Eddie Bernice Johnson and Tim Murphy in the House, to pass the Mental Health Reform Act. It increased access to mental healthcare for adults and children, it strengthened leadership and accountability for Federal mental health and substance abuse programs, and it established new programs for early intervention. It was called by Senator Alexander the largest reform to our mental health system in decades. I continue to work with President Trump's administration to implement these reforms. Now, none of this Federal legislation makes a difference unless there is State and local leadership, as was demonstrated in the story which I gave. Last October, I held a mental health summit in Baton Rouge and brought together Federal, State, and local leaders, and the purpose was to discuss proven methods in how to work together to improve the provision of mental health services in both Louisiana and the United States. There is still important work to do. If we are going to return these folks to wholeness, these folks--our family members, our neighbors, our fellow Americans. The Mental Health Parity bill became law 10 years ago, but patients still have trouble accessing mental healthcare in the same way they access physical healthcare, caused by, among other things, the lack of mental health providers, prior authorization requirements, and reimbursement rate setting. I am committed to ensuring patients have access to the treatment so they return to wholeness. We need the story of Mary not to be something so unusual that it is read upon the Senate floor, but something which is so common that we know it to be true. Instead of throwing up our hands--kind of, oh, my gosh, serious mental illness; there is nothing to do--instead we look to hope with a future for someone who could be returned to wholeness so that her first episode of mental illness is her last episode of mental illness. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
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