NAMI STIGMABUSTERS ALERT/UPDATE

DECEMBER 2001

NAMI StigmaBusters, with its dedicated advocates across the country, continue to focus on changing public attitudes from fear and rejection to understanding and acceptance of persons with mental illness.

NAMI StigmaBusters number more than 8,000. Numbers do count; so let your voice be heard.

Contact: smarch@nami.org

CONTENTS:

1. A BEAUTIFUL MIND

2. NPR BROADCASTS CHRISTMAS CAROL PARODIES

3. PARITY DEFEATED BY CONGRESS

4. OUTLOOK FOR 2002

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1. A BEAUTIFUL MIND

On Friday, December 21st, the movie "A Beautiful Mind," starring Russell Crowe, starts playing in select theaters in nine major metropolitan markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Washington, DC. Other cities will be added on December 25th, with general nationwide release scheduled for January 4th.

"A Beautiful Mind" is based on the life of John Nash, Jr., the Nobel Prize winning mathematician who struggled for 30 years with schizophrenia, and whom NAMI honored at its Chicago convention in 1999. On January 6th, Nash will be the guest at a benefit screening for NAMI Mercer County in Princeton, New Jersey, where the movie was partly filmed.

On January 3rd, NAMI executive director Rick Birkel, NAMI board member Peggy Le Grande of New York, and former NAMI vice-president Fred Frese of Ohio will meet with health reporters in New York to discuss the movie. In preparation, NAMI is interested in getting comments from NAMI members, particularly consumers, who may have a chance to see the movie BEFORE December 31st.

The movie is rated PG-13. NAMI consumers and family members should be aware in advance that there are intense, potentially disturbing scenes involving paranoia, physical restraints, insulin therapy, and convulsions.

Please email comments to abm@nami.org. If you are willing to be interviewed by a reporter or to allow your comments to be quoted please include your full name, city and state, and a telephone number, along with any personal background that may be relevant to your perspective. NAMI can't promise that anyone will be actually interviewed or quoted, but responses will helpful to our presentation. We'll also summarize them in a future alert.

Thanks for your help.

Bob Corolla, Director of Media Relations

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2. NPR BROADCASTS OFFENSIVE CHRISTMAS CAROL PARODIES

NPR's "CAR TALK" program on December 15th began with parodies of Christmas carols that mock symptoms of mental illnesses. Many StigmaBusters contacted us to express their disbelief and outrage that NPR, with its high program standards, allowed "CAR TALK" to use these parodies as humor.

We sent the following message to Louie Cronin, the associate producer of the program:

"We have received many reports from our members about 'CAR TALK's Click and Clack' show on Friday, December 14, 2001which presented Christmas carol parodies mocking and trivializing symptoms of severe mental illnesses.

This is hardly a humorous greeting of good cheer for many listeners who struggle daily to overcome the real, devastating symptoms mocked by these parodies.

We are aware that such parodies have been around for several years on various Internet web sites, however, we never expected an NPR program to carry these hurtful and offensive parodies.

We hope you and your 'CAR TALK' program will offer a responsible response during their next program."

Their response follows:

12/17/01

Dear Stella,

We are so sorry that you were offended by the Christmas carols. They were meant to be humorous, and not intended to hurt anyone or show a lack of compassion toward the mentally ill. We understand that this is a serious issue that affects a lot of families and we hope that you will forgive us if our attempts at humor were off the mark.

Thanks for taking the time to write us and raise our consciousness of the issue. In the future we will be more careful.

Sincerely,

Louie Cronin

Associate Producer, Car Talk

My immediate response and request:

12/17/01

Dear Louie,

I appreciate your prompt response. However, respecting your many listeners who were deeply affected, could a brief comment be made during the next program giving your total audience the chance to learn that mental illnesses are like all other illnesses, (i.e. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer, HIV, stroke etc.) I doubt you would use a parody based on symptoms of any of those diseases.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher has commented that the media can do more to help inform and change public attitudes than health professionals.

Thank you for your consideration.

"CAR TALK" is on break for the holidays and now airing pre-recorded shows. However, Louie promised to raise the request at the next producer's meeting. Meanwhile, send your emails to: louie@cartalk.com with copies to

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3.PARITY LEGISLATION DEFEATED BY CONGRESS

THE PRESIDENT, CONGRESS AND THE MENTAL HEALTH PARITY AMENDMENT

Lets Hold The Leaders Who Killed It Accountable

Statement of Richard C. Birkel, Ph.D.

Executive Director, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

Late Tuesday, December 18, a conference committee of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted to drop the mental health parity amendment from the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3061). Key House leaders remained opposed to the provision until the end.

Killing the amendment was more than a disappointment to individuals with mental illnesses and their families. It is an outrage, representing a conscious decision to protect unconscionable discrimination.

Mental illnesses are brain disorders. They are as much physical illnesses as heart disease, diabetes, or epilepsy Congress should not be abandoning the millions of Americans who battle severe mental illnesses every year. 

Two-thirds of all the members of the Senate co-sponsored the original mental health parity bill, S. 543. A majority of members of the House of Representatives were on record supporting the Senate amendment asking the conference committee to support it.

A small group of House leaders instead chose to ignore the will of the majority. People cannot help but wonder whose interests they served. Certainly not those of American families. Certainly not those of children. And certainly not those of other Members of Congress who have wanted to do the right thing.

Since 1995, the House of Representatives has not held a single hearing on parity, in spite of the Senate's hearings, deliberations, and action. Some of the House leaders who have worked so hard to block the Senate parity amendment to H.R. 3061 are in fact the same leaders who have refused to hold hearings.

That is wrong. It is unfair. It is undemocratic. It is unconscionable.

Members of Congress already have health insurance providing parity for mental health benefits. So do other federal workers, including those who work at the White House. That is only right, but other Americans deserve the same protection.

Insurance discrimination kills. Ninety percent of all suicides are the result of mental illness. Congressional inaction means that some people will not get adequate treatment.

Congressional inaction means some people will die.

The cost of parity is low. The benefits are significant. The risks that come from not providing coverage are much too high.

NAMI is grateful for the bipartisan efforts of all those Members of Congress who have fought hard for parity. 

Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-NM) have been the lead sponsors, supported by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). In the House, Representative Marge

In the closing hours, President Bush remained our hope. He signed the Texas parity law in 1997. He too knows the pain that can result from untreated mental illness. He has the power to turn House leaders and the White House staff around on the issue. But the President did not act, and we are greatly disappointed.

Our consolation comes in this promise: parity will not go away. If our leaders fail, we will hold them accountable every time a family faces a crisis or is plunged into grief.

Every time insurance discrimination kills, we will ask them again: whom do they really represent? 

We will be back. And next time, the majority will win.

Stigmabusters are encouraged to thank those House members who voted for parity in the conference committee, and to contact those who opposed it, to express anger and disappointment:

Voting in favor: David Obey (D-WI), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI).

Voting against: Ralph Regula (R-OH), C.W. Young (R-FL), Ernest Istook (R-OK), Dan Miller (R-FL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Anne M. Northup (R-KY), Randy Cunningham (R-CA), Kay Granger (R-TX), John Peterson (R- PA) and Don Sherwood (R-PA).

After the House rejected the Domenici-Wellstone amendment, members approved an extension of the 1996 federal parity law for an additional year. The 1996 law requires health plans to meet a standard parity only for annual and lifetime dollar limits--far short of the Domenici-

It is important to note that the conference committee voted "no" on parity under intense pressure from House majority leaders and the chairs of several key House committees. It is these members who especially need to hear from

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX), Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX), Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (R-OK), Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner (R-OH), Energy and Commerce Chairman W.J. Tauzin (R-LA) and Ways & Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA). Their opposition occurred despite the fact that more than half the House (244 members) had either cosponsored parity legislation, or signed letters in support of the Domenci-

Addition information, including how to contact specific members, is available on NAMI's web site, www.nami.org.

The general address for the U.S. House of Representatives is Washington, D.C. 20515. Please be polite, but firm in stating your concern.

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4.OUTLOOK FOR 2002

Unfortunately, Congressional refusal to pass parity legislation requiring insurance companies to cover and treat mental illnesses like all other physical illnesses promotes the isolation of mental illness and perpetuates the stigma.

However, we can watch for new opportunities to influence public attitudes to understand and accept persons with mental illness just as they do individuals with other physical ailments.

How? Start in your own local community. Reach out to all civic organizations, to faith groups, to business organizations, PTAs, the Board of Education, and yes, to your beauty parlor or barber-shop. You'll find genuine interest, because many people have a family member or friend with a mental disorder, and will often ask for more information. See our November Alert for more specifics on HOW TO DEAL WITH LOCAL STIGMA.

Also, please continue to report to and support national

We have appreciated your eyes and ears enabling us to be well informed during past two and a half years. Please continue to report and respond to national StigmaBusters Alerts.

With your support we envision a stronger presence in local, national, international arenas -- partnering with similar associations in countries around the world.

We wish our friends in the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Malta, Botswana, New Delhi, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand a most Happy Holiday Season and a brighter New Year! 

Sincerely,

Stella March, Coordinator

NAMI StigmaBusters Email Alert

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations.  We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

Copyright 2005 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Santa Cruz County, All Rights Reserved.

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