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.