Forum Network

**Patrick J. Kennedy**, the former congressman and youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy, details his personal and political battle with mental illness and addiction, exploring mental health care's history in the country alongside his and every family's private struggles. On May 5, 2006, the New York Times ran two stories, “Patrick Kennedy Crashes Car into Capitol Barrier” and then, several hours later, “Patrick Kennedy Says He'll Seek Help for Addiction.” It was the first time that the popular Rhode Island congressman had publicly disclosed his addiction to prescription painkillers, the true extent of his struggle with bipolar disorder and his plan to immediately seek treatment. That could have been the end of his career, but instead it was the beginning. Since then, Kennedy has become the nation’s leading advocate for mental health and substance abuse care, research and policy both in and out of Congress. And ever since passing the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act—and after the death of his father, leaving Congress—he has been changing the dialogue that surrounds all brain diseases. Image: [IrishCentral.com](http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/Patrick-Kennedys-cheap-shots-at-his-father-Ted-Kennedy-Senior.html "Ted and Patrick Kennedy")

Whitaker's work has alerted both the medical community and the general public to the serious dangers of psychotropic medicines when used for extended periods. He has become a standard reference for the facts. Two of Robert Whitaker's books on this subject are among the most cited in the literature: Mad in America (2002) and Anatomy of an Epidemic (2010). He has received numerous awards, including a George Polk Award for medical writing and a National Association of Science Writers Award for best magazine article. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Robert Whitaker is a prominent medical writer, whose concentration is on psychiatric care and psychotropic drugs. In this presentation he provides important information about how ADHD 'now an 'epidemic'' is diagnosed and why users of medications for ADHD should be cautious. Recent news stories about the hazards of long-term ADHD medications and the more general use of these drugs to enhance concentration underscore the importance of Whitaker's discussion.

Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome the editor of The Atlantic, Scott Stossel and editor at large for Vanity Fair, Cullen Murphy for a discussion of Stossel's latest work, My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind. A riveting, revelatory, and moving account of the author's struggles with anxiety, and of the history of efforts by scientists, philosophers, and writers to understand the condition As recently as thirty-five years ago, anxiety did not exist as a diagnostic category. Today, it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness. Scott Stossel gracefully guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive yet too often misunderstood.

Tal Ben-Shahar discusses current research on the science of happiness and introduces ideas and tools that can actually make a difference in one's life. break The study of happiness or of enhancing the quality of our lives, has been dominated by pop-psychology (much charisma, but relatively little substance) and academia (much substance, but isolated from most people's everyday lives). Positive Psychology, the scientific study of optimal human functioning, creates a bridge between the Ivory Tower and Main Street, making rigorous academic ideas accessible to all. Tal Ben-Shahar, instructor of the most popular course at Harvard University, discusses the findings of current research on the science of happiness and introduces ideas and tools that can actually make a difference in one's life.

This forum, specially designed for school leaders, teachers, counselors, and community interventionists, discusses potential student and family reactions to trauma, as well as immediate and sustained ways for assisting in their continued emotional and educational development. The panelists discuss how, in the wake of traumatic events, educators often grapple with understanding and responding to the needs of affected children.

Inform Your Mind, Fuel Your Spirit is a panel discussion about mental health awareness in the black community moderated by Terrie Williams author of *A Plentiful Harvest: Creating Balance and Harmony Through the Seven Living Virtues*. Williams is also founder of The Terrie Williams Agency and The Stay Strong Foundation. Williams is joined by Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of *Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans*; Altha J. Stewart, president of the American Psychiatric Foundation and former president of Black Psychiatrists of America; Rhonda Ross, a writer, vocalist, and Emmy-nominated actress; and Tracy Tyrone Moore, the president of the Black Men's Forum at Harvard University.

Terrie Williams leads a panel discussion about mental health awareness in the black community. Panelists include Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans; Dr. Altha J. Stewart, president of the American Psychiatric Foundation and former president of Black Psychiatrists of America; Rhonda Ross, a writer, vocalist, and Emmy nominated actress; and Tracy Tyrone Moore, the president of the Black Men's Forum at Harvard University.

Bebe Moore Campbell reads from her latest book, *72 Hour Hold*. In this novel of family and redemption, Keri struggles to save her 18 year old daughter from the devastating consequences of mental illness and the bureaucracy that refuses to help her. When, out of desperation, she decides to put her daughter's fate into the hands of an unorthodox alternative to the state system, Keri begins a journey that has her calling on the spirit of Harriet Tubman for courage. In the upheaval that follows, she is forced to confront a past that refuses to stay buried, even as she battles to secure a future for her child. Co-presented with Elizabeth Stone House and the Cambridge Family YMCA. Bebe Moore Campbell is the author of three *New York Times* best-sellers: *Brothers and Sisters*, *Singing in the Comeback Choir*, and *What You Owe Me*, which was also a *Los Angeles Times* Best Book of 2001. Her other works include the novel *Your Blues Ain't Like Mine*, which was a *New York Times* Notable Book of the Year and the winner of the NAACP Image Award for literature.

Robert Whitaker, award-winning science and medicine journalist, discusses his new book, *Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America*. Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nation’s children. *Anatomy of an Epidemic* first investigates what is known today about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric medications fix “chemical imbalances” in the brain, or do they, in fact, *create* them? Then comes the scientific query at the heart of this book: During the past 50 years, when investigators looked at how psychiatric drugs affected long-term outcomes, what did they find? Did they discover that the drugs help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good physical health? Or did they find that these medications, for some paradoxical reason, *increase* the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness?

Lauren Slater and Jessica Henderson Daniel discuss an expansive book, The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women. From anxiety to eating disorders to postpartum depression, over 50 experts navigate the milestones and issues affecting women's mental health and the medical assistance that is available. The vast majority of books on mental illness focus on men. This book is the first comprehensive volume that seeks to depict women's lives through their illnesses and their life stages, taking into account both race and class. Over 50 medical experts contribute to chapters on anxiety, depressive and bipolar disorders, body image and eating disorders, as well as disorders associated with specific stages in women's lives: marriage, motherhood, postpartum depression and menopause and the effects of aging on mood, memory and hormones.