ACResolution Magazine - September 2017

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.