INTRODUCTION: A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
In 2013, after the Newtown shootings, Barack
Obama held the first White House Conference on
Mental Health in 14 years as part of the National Dialogue on Mental Health (Currie, 2013). This conference
introduced a series of community conversation events
across the country, convened with an aim of bringing
Americans together to discuss the complex mental
health questions facing communities throughout the
United States.
Although many mental health stakeholders were
dismayed by the sensational situation that finally
renewed this national conversation, they were also glad
that mental health was becoming a more salient part of
the public discourse. Moreover, they were hopeful that
this community conversation platform presented an
opportunity to make a difference.
MH Mediate and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center organized the first National Dialogue on Mental
Health event in New York City. Rooted in conflict resolution principles, we broadened the agenda, which had
emphasized youth issues, to make it balanced across a
variety of constituencies and interests. We also invited
diverse participants including representation from the
full spectrum of mental health advocacy, ranging from
the mainstream organizations to the self-described
radical mental health groups.
Our event lasted four hours and was divided into
two conversation sessions. Each dialogue table
had two co-facilitators and eight participants. They
discussed questions such as what are the most
important things to tell the White House about mental health, what are the barriers to communicating
about mental health problems, and how does mental health impact your communities. All participant
answers were memorialized in index cards they
had at their table. Attendees also had the option to
record quick video messages that were later posted
on You Tube.
Coinciding with the National Dialogue, the federal
government also launched www.mentalhealth.gov
with the slogan “Let’s Talk About It.” Our hope was to
answer the implied question, “How do we talk about
it?” We developed and shared a model that embraced
conflict resolution norms of impartiality and self-
determination in order to empower all participants to
have a voice. Our dialogue event welcomed people
with lived experience of mental health conditions,
supporters, mental health professionals, and people
who fell into all of those categories. Because our
event was the first in the country to take this inclu-
sive approach, we were asked to develop an online
program showing future organizers how to welcome
and appreciate diverse perspectives in mental health.
Today, mental health discussions continue to permeate our national discourse. It is vital that we continue
using conflict resolution practices as we face some of
the important questions of the day:
• In the next iteration of healthcare
legislation, how will mental health
services be provided?
• What approach, if any, should we take
to early intervention and, on the other
hand, possible over-diagnosis?
• What are the best practices regarding
forced mental health treatment?
These questions, and many others, are at the heart
of divides that continue to spark debates across all
communities. How can we come together to discuss
these issues? This article shares three key lessons
from our mental health dialogue work.
1: APPRECIATE DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES
To engage in discourse about mental health, we
must begin with an appreciation of the complex
tapestry of perspectives that comprise the mental
health landscape.
Mental health problems are very common – each
year one in five of us in the United States will experience one (National Institute on Mental Health 2015).
The sheer ubiquity of mental health situations could
imply that it would be easy to forge common ground
to discuss them. But the discourse often gets clouded
by assumptions, paternalism, and stigma. One survey found over 57% of the general public felt that
people were caring or sympathetic to people with
mental health conditions while only just under 24%
of people with mental health symptoms actually felt
people to be sympathetic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).
Talking Mental Health:
Lessons from the National Dialogue
About the Author
DAN
BERSTEIN
is founder of MH
Mediate, which specializes in mental
health communication, conflict resolution, and accessibility. His specialty
is applying conflict
resolution best
practices to help
organizations have
empowered communication. He has
a master’s degree in
Mental Health and
certificate in Health
Communication from
the Johns Hopkins
School of Public
Health, where he
founded a Conflict
Resolution Training
Project. He is Vice
Chair of the ABA
Section on Dispute
Resolution.
by
Dan Berstein