This is an archive page.  The links are no longer being updated.

REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		White House Conference on Mental Health, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		June 7, 1999

I'm very pleased to welcome all of you to this first ever White House Conference on Mental Health. I especially want to welcome our friends who are joining us from Atlanta, Flint and Portland.

A man known to have suffered bouts of depression once wrote: "In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony. You cannot believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. I have had enough experience to make this statement."

These words belong to Abraham Lincoln.

There was a time when a president could do little to influence the course of mental illness. Not anymore. This President - and this Administration - have made an unprecedented commitment to promoting mental health for all Americans. The President and the Vice President are calling for the largest increase ever in local prevention and treatment services funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Later this year - or early next year - our incomparable Surgeon General - Dr. David Satcher - will release our first Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health. And today we hold a major White House Conference on Mental Health.

Our bottom line has always been - the American people must have access to quality affordable mental health care.

If a teenager broke a leg, we wouldn't let it go untreated. Well if that same teenager's spirit is alienated and broken, that must not go untreated either.

In a few minutes, you'll be seeing a video that tells the story of people on the road back to mental health and happiness. Lincoln was right - it can happen! And working together, we will make it happen.

This Conference has many important goals.

We want to end the cruel stigma of this disease - a stigma that feeds on myth and invites discrimination. Let me say loud and clear: No one has done more to shed the light of truth on the dark lies of mental illness than Mrs. Gore. She is our Myth-buster-in-Chief. We all owe her a great debt of thanks.

From children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - to young adults battling schizophrenia - to seniors struggling with Alzheimer's Disease - mental illness spans the arc of life. So we want to get the word out: No one is immune. But no one is beyond help either. That message is especially important for seniors. Mental health services to fight loneliness, depression and memory loss are greatly underutilized by older Americans. We must change that.

We also want to highlight the revolutionary breakthroughs we're making in understanding the human brain. Since 1993, we've increased the budget for the National Institute for Mental Health by over half. Today we can truly say: Ours is a golden age of insight into the workings of the human mind.

One area that has been a major focus of study is the connection between mental health and physical health. That is another important goal of this conference: To strengthen this connection, to make sure mental health has the same insurance coverage as physical health, and to encourage physicians, school nurses and home health workers to spot the warning signs of mental illness - just as they do physical illness - and to intervene early.

This Administration is fighting for mental health every day without interruption, without compromise - and without losing faith that we have the national will to succeed. In the following video, you'll see people who are doing the same. They're fighting back. Healing. And succeeding.

Many of the clips are from the 1998 Family Reunion hosted in Nashville by the Vice President and Mrs. Gore. The theme last year was "Families and Health." The theme for this year's reunion - to be held in a couple of weeks - is Families and Communities, words that remind us all: In partnership there is hope and victory.

Thank you.