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Group tries to alleviate mental health stigma
05/11/2008 06:44:48
By Colleen Reynolds and Dave Dahl
If you have cancer or broken bones, you wouldn't ignore it -- you’d get help. Mental health advocates say depression and substance abuse are no different. It’s ok to get help. The Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois is announcing a new initiative designed to help almost 17,000 people -- half of them are kids. CEO Frank Anselmo says government and society must take mental illness as seriously as other diseases.
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Anselmo says the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill gave Illinois an "F." for its health care system for serious mental illnesses in 2006. He says the latest initiative could be funded by using $42 million from a hospital assessment fund. He estimates more than 15-hundred people in Central Illinois could be helped.
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