[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

  (Mr. KENNEDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, according to a report I read recently, 
serious mental health problems are declining among our children, and 
that is very good news. But the same report found that over half of 
severely troubled youth get absolutely no help at all. That is a 
glaring gap in our system that must be addressed today.
  Far too often, the only thing standing in the way of treatment is the 
negative stigma associated with this disease. The stigma of treatment 
and medication, the stigma of anger and instability, the stigma of fear 
of the disease itself.
  At a time when there are 10 times more people with mental illness in 
jail than in State-funded psychiatric beds, we are not doing our job to 
help our loved ones wage this silent battle alone.
  Last month during Mental Health Awareness Month, we recognized and 
thanked organizations like the Massachusetts Association for Behavioral 
Health for their critical work to fill the gaps in our system and wipe 
away the stigmas that deter so many from pursuing treatment.

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