Carmen Lee, Executive Director of Stamp Out Stigma receives Lifetime Achievement Award!
SAMHSA
RECOGNIZES MENTAL HEALTH CONSUMERS, ENTERTAINMENT PROFESSIONALS, AT SECOND
ANNUAL VOICE AWARDS
The
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) honored
mental health consumers along with television, film, and radio writers and
producers last night at the second annual Voice Awards, hosted by Mariel
Hemingway at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Consumers were
recognized for their work to raise awareness and understanding of mental
illness. Entertainment professionals were recognized for creating dignified,
respectful, and accurate portrayals of people with mental health problems.
Sandra
McQueen-Baker, Lynn Kohr, Nancy Jensen, Gayathri Ramprasad, and Doug DeVoe each
received a "Consumer Leadership Award" for HIS/HER efforts to raise
awareness of mental health and expand public understanding that mental health
problems exist in every community and affect almost every family in the United
States. The Voice Awards recognized five mental health advocates with
"Consumer Leadership" awards for their work to reduce stigma and help
ensure that people are able to access services and supports that assist recovery.
The
"Lifetime Achievement Award" was presented to Carmen Lee, a mental
health advocate and the founder and executive director of Stamp Out Stigma
(SOS), a non-profit organization dedicated to changing the public's perceptions
of people living with mental illnesses.
Voice
Awards entertainment winners included the crime dramas Law & Order: SVU
(NBC) for the episode "Ripped" and Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye (PAX) for the
episode "Mind Games"; the motion pictures Proof and Jellysmoke;
documentaries including Legacy of the Harp, the Emmy-nominated I Have
Tourette's, But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me, and Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in
Mental Illness; and the radio programs Morning Edition (National Public Radio)
for the episode "Katrina and Recovery" and One in Five (Radio New
Zealand) for the episode "Crazy for Life."
"We
are honored to recognize mental health consumers for their efforts to help
dispel myths and break through the stigma still surrounding mental illness and
mental health problems," said Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick,
D.D.S., M.P.H., SAMHSA's Acting Deputy Administrator. "They demonstrate on
a daily basis that recovery from mental illness is possible and that persons
with mental health problems should not be afraid to speak out or to seek
treatment. Silence only perpetuates the
stigma."
David
Hoberman, the co-creator and executive producer for "Monk," received
a "Career Achievement Award" for his many years of mental health
advocacy. Hoberman, a member of the board of the Anxiety Disorders Association
of America, is one of today's leading producers with more than 100 movies to
his credit. Several of the many major motion pictures that Hoberman has
produced include Raising Helen, The Shaggy Dog, and The Other Sister.
In
addition, SAMHSA presented actresses Patty Duke and Ruta Lee with "Special
Recognition" awards for commitment to mental health advocacy.
Duke is
an Academy Award-winning actress, a best-selling author, and a lifelong
advocate on the topic of mental illness. Her Oscar-winning portrayal of Helen
Keller in The Miracle Worker launched a prolific career on stage and screen.
Duke's talents and dedication to social issues have been recognized with three
Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, six Emmy nominations, a People's Choice Award,
and many community service awards. She is the author of the best-selling
autobiography, Call Me Anna. In 1987, the book rose to the top of the New York
Times charts, launching Duke as a mental health spokeswoman, a role she
fulfills to this day. In 1992 she wrote her second book, A Brilliant Madness:
Living with Manic Depressive Illness.
Ruta Lee's
résumé includes major motion pictures such as Funny Face, Sergeants 3, and
Witness for the Prosecution, and more than 2,000 appearances on TV shows such
as Perry Mason, Hogan's Heroes, and Murder, She Wrote. Lee co-founded the
Thalians, which raises awareness of and funding for mental health services, and
established the Thalians Mental Health Center at the Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, Los Angeles, which provides mental health services for people of all
ages.
Mariel
Hemingway, host of this year's Voice Awards, is an outspoken advocate for
mental illness and suicide prevention. In her latest book, Finding My Balance,
she details her quest for life balance in a family well known for its history
of mental illness. An actress, mother, and wife, Hemingway has worked in more
than 30 TV and film projects that have brought her roles which explored mental
health and other challenging issues.
SAMHSA
received more than 35 nominations for the Voice Awards. Entertainment
professionals who created original television, film, and radio productions with
an initial public release between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2005, were
eligible for nomination. The nine award recipients were reviewed by a panel of
judges that included mental health advocates and professionals, as well as
representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
the communications and entertainment fields, and people who have personally
experienced mental illnesses.
Program
partners of the Voice Awards included: Ad Council; American Counseling
Association; American Psychiatric Foundation; American Psychological
Association; Anxiety Disorders Association of America; the Mental Health Media
Partnership; NARSAD, the Mental Health Research Organization; National
Association of Social Workers; National Association of State Mental Health
Program Directors; United Behavioral Health; and Writers Guild of America,
West.
This
year's Voice Awards were part of the National Anti Stigma Campaign, a
three-year program sponsored by SAMHSA in conjunction with the Ad Council, to
reduce the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health
problems.
The
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a public health
agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead
Federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse
prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United
States.
