Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy has used his own personal experience with mental health and addiction to become one of the nation’s most influential advocates to reduce the stigma around mental illness, and to make real change to increase affordable access to care.
He’s the co-author of the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act, the founder of The Kennedy Forum, and co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Behavioral Health Integration Task Force. The Task Force just released a terrific report on integrating behavioral health treatment into primary care.
On our show, Rep. Kennedy explains how mental health conditions exacerbate other illnesses: “You can’t deal with heart disease and ignore depression. Depression increases the rate of a heart attack by four times.” And how “process addictions – food, sex, technology,” will be as destructive as drug and alcohol addictions in the future.
You’ll hear the powerful turning point that changed how Rep. Kennedy thought about mental health, and we’ll also talk about an exciting company, Psych Hub, that he and Senator Frist are collaborating on today.