Obama Taps Hollywood to Help End Mental Health Stigma

Actress Glenn Close attends the White House Mental
Health Conference in the East Room of the White House
June 3, 2013 in Washington, DC

June 4, 2013 by EURpublisher02 

*President Obama turned to Hollywood for help in raising awareness of mental illness, beginning with a White House summit on Monday with Vice President Joe Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. They were joined by two entertainment industry stalwarts with personal connections to mental health issues: actress Glenn Close and actor Bradley Cooper.

Close, who co-founded the nonprofit awareness group Bring Change 2 Mind, has said she first became aware of mental health problems when she starred in “Fatal Attraction” in 1987. Her sister Jessie grew up with severe bouts of depression and tried to commit suicide several times before being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. Her nephew Calen has also been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. She’s also the narrator of a PBS documentary that started airing last week in California, “A New State of Mind: Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness.”  READ MORE
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[Why not,  right?  I mean,  were no longer medieval ignorant savages,  so what's the problem?
Brains are organs too,  as we know and organs can suffer damage.  Or are we still thinking the
problem is demons from hell?  Something contagious we might catch?  Or any other tomfoolishness
some shaman wants to peddle.  Then let's get on with the search for a cure.