Copyright 1999 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
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June 20, 1999, Sunday 2 STAR EDITION
SECTION: LIFESTYLE; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 1091 words
HEADLINE:
Carter's book champions cause for mentally ill
SOURCE:
Staff
BYLINE: BARBARA KARKABI
BODY:
It's 7:45 in the morning, and Rosalynn Carter
is ready to plunge into a fully scheduled day. Secret Service men stationed
outside the door. A car waits to whisk her to her next appointment.
But
as she calmly sips a cup of coffee, a bagel and fruit on a nearby plate, the
former First Lady gives the impression that she's not in the slightest bit
rushed. Maybe it's her Southern sense of manners, but more likely it's the fact
that she always has time to talk about mental illness - the cause she has
championed for almost three decades. Her latest accomplishment is the
publication Helping Someone With Mental Illness (with Susan K. Golant; Times
Books, $ 15), just released in paperback.
"My goal is to take the stigma
out of mental illness. It's meant to help families deal with a loved one's
illness, but I also wanted to reach a wider audience," she said. "I write it
like I'm telling my mother what I am doing, and she is 93, so it has to be
simple."
Carter, 71, was in Houston last week, speaking to NAMI
(National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) Texas, which honored her work in the
field.
Though her book is well-written and accessible, it was not easy
for her to do and took a long time. For much of Carter's career as a mental
health advocate, she has been involved in the policy side, trying to get better
treatment and care. But writing the book was something she wanted to do for a
long time.
"So much has changed since I became involved in 1971," she
said. "No one would mention mental illness, and nobody understood how to treat
it, including doctors and scientists. We just kind of shut them away."
Especially in the past 10 years, she explains, a lot has been learned
about the brain and the way it works. It is now understood that many major
mental illnesses are biologically based and should be treated the same as other
illnesses, she said. New medications, with fewer side effects, have successfully
helped treat more people, she stressed.
Dispelling the idea that
illnesses such as schizophrenia are a result of poor parenting, Carter discusses
the latest breakthroughs in understanding, research and treatment of the
disease. She also does the same for depression, manic depression, panic attacks,
obsessive-compulsive disorder and other illnesses.
Her book has plenty
of statistics, such as the fact that depression and anxiety disorders strike
women twice as often as men, while men commit suicide four times more often than
women. It also has helpful chapters on overcoming denial and seeking help for
loved ones, as well as what to do after the diagnosis.
But the strength
of the book lies in her compassion, her ability to tell people's stories. They
range from the rich and famous (including Mike Wallace, Art Buchwald, Margot
Kidder and Carrie Fisher) who have grappled with depression and manic depression
to a cotton mill worker who talked to Carter at 4:30 a.m. about her mentally ill
daughter.
How Carter got involved with mental illness is a story in
itself. It's not, as many have speculated, because of problems in her family,
although she does remember growing up with a mentally ill cousin of Jimmy
Carter's in Plains, Ga.
Her true involvement with mental health began
with a campaign experience in the late '60s.
"In 1959, there had been a
big expose on our state facility, with 12,000 patients. In 1967, Jimmy ran for
state senator and got in the race late after the leading candidate had a heart
attack," she recalled. "We only had six weeks, and we spread out all over the
state. It was a time of transition and confusion when people didn't really know
what was going to happen with loved ones who were mentally ill, and I had so
many people ask me questions."
Carter, astonished at how many people
approached her, was especially moved by the cotton mill worker who worked nights
while her husband worked days so they could afford to care for their mentally
ill daughter.
Later when Jimmy Carter, now 74, ran for governor of
Georgia, she encountered the same questions. One day on the campaign trail, they
happened to be in the same town. She decided to surprise her husband by standing
in line and asking: "When you become governor, what are you going to do for
people with mental illness?"
His reply: "We're going to have the best
program in the country, and you're going to head it."
That, she said
with a slight smile, was the beginning.
When she arrived in Washington,
D.C. as first lady in 1977, Carter was told by reporters that her "issue" wasn't
sexy enough. But she persisted in her efforts as honorary chair of the
President's Commission on Mental Health, and by 1980 their work resulted in
passage of the Mental Health Systems Act. The act expanded and restructured
federal aid for mental health services.
Not long afterward, it was
dismantled by President Reagan, an experience that "devastated" the former first
lady. Over the years, though, many states have adapted the act, and bits and
pieces of the legislation were eventually passed through Congress.
She
said she enjoyed her time in Washington, D.C., and even managed to ignore the
criticism leveled at her for sitting in on her husband's policy meetings. She
believes the role of first lady has changed as the role of women has changed in
this country, pointing to Hillary Rodham Clinton's possible U.S. Senate run.
"I think it is totally her decision," she said. "Everybody is different
and has different goals, and if she wants to run for Senate, I think it is a
good thing for her to do."
Among her goals when her husband left office
was to continue her mental health work. She has done that at the Carter Center
in Atlanta, where she created and chaired the Mental Health Task Force. She also
hosts the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy.
The
Carters still travel extensively overseas - they recently returned from
Indonesia, where they monitored elections, and the Philippines, where they
helped Habitat for Humanity build more than 290 houses.
To spread the
word about mental health issues worldwide, she helped form the International
Women Leaders for Mental Health, a global coalition of first ladies, royalty and
heads of state.
Because Carter always looks to the future, she is now
urging people to write their congressmen to support parity in insurance.
Coverage for mental health should be the same
as for physical illness, and no distinction should be made, she said.
"The important thing is to educate people about the true facts about
mental illness," she said.
GRAPHIC: Photo: At 71,
former first lady Rosalynn Carter still maintains a busy schedule. She was in
Houston recently to promote her new book, Helping Someone WIth Mental Illness
(color); Betty Tichich / Chronicle
LOAD-DATE: June 21,
1999 
