Stopping the Mental Health Stigma

One of the many challenges of recovery that mental health patients face is the stigma surrounding their need for help. In this article shared by Med City News, Patrick Kennedy, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, discusses this issue surrounding the mentally ill. As a high-profile figure, he struggled to hide his addiction and attempted to find treatment that wouldn’t publicly expose him to ridicule. Kennedy urged the audience at the 2017 American Telemedicine Association conference to continue to push for telemedicine as the answer for mental health patients. Telemedicine allows for an extra layer of privacy and can help to bridge the gap, providing the mentally ill with the help that they need in a way that’s both appealing and effective.

The following article is originally featured on medcitynews.com:

“That’s what these illnesses do to people. They isolate them, they disconnect them. The silence is our biggest challenge.”

These are the words of Patrick J. Kennedy, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the nation’s leading advocates in mental health and addiction. In his speech at the American Telemedicine Association’s 2017 conference, Kennedy touched not only on how telemedicine can be used for mental health patients, but also on his personal mental health journey.

“There’s a systematic discrimination of people with mental illness in this country,” he said. And Kennedy knows it full well. His father, Senator Ted Kennedy, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, while his mother Joan suffered from depression and alcoholism. But these issues were constantly brushed under the rug in his household. “We didn’t talk about anything that was important as it relates to brain health,” he said.

Read the full article here:  https://medcitynews.com/2017/04/patrick-kennedy-ata-stop-mental-health-stigma/

 

About Simple Visit

SimpleVisit is a video service which allows patients and providers to connect over the video platform of their choice. With SimpleVisit providers are able to deliver on-demand visits to patients over any device or platform they have available to them. For more information on SimpleVisit and on how we are enabling providers to host virtual visits check out www.SimpleVisit.com

Lessons in Virtual Urgent Care

Lessons in Virtual Urgent Care

› 101: The Business of TelemedicineCOURSE OBJECTIVE: Over the next few weeks, we will introduce some lessons in an effort to educate professionals in urgent care space on the business value of including telemedicine into their practice. The first lesson is an...

read more
Reinvent Mental Healthcare: Think Like a Startup

Reinvent Mental Healthcare: Think Like a Startup

STARTUP:  “A company working to solve a problem where the solution is not obvious and success is not guaranteed” - Neil Blumenthal, cofounder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.(1)  INNOVATE: To make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods,...

read more
January State Policy Update

January State Policy Update

State Policy Update The first few weeks of 2019 bring hope and progress for state telehealth reimbursement! The Center for Connected Health Policy tracks policy changes year-round for everything telehealth. Below is an update on states who proposed new regulations and...

read more