TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 7 2 TMC | PULSE Vol. 4 No. 5 June 2017 President and Chief Executive Officer William F. McKeon Vice President of Communications Christen Bagley Pulse Editor Maggie Galehouse mgalehouse@tmc.edu Digital News Editor Shea Connelly sconnelly@tmc.edu Staff Writers Alexandra Becker Shanley Chien Christine Hall Britni N. Riley Photojournalist Cody Duty Contributing Photographer Nick de la Torre NEWSROOM 713-791-8812 news@tmc.edu ADVERTISING Felicia Zbranek-Zeitman 713-791-8829 newsads@tmc.edu DISTRIBUTION Daniel Martinez 713-791-6136 distribution@tmc.edu READ US ONLINE tmc.edu/news FOLLOW US @TXMedCenter @texasmedcenter @thetexasmedicalcenter TMC Pulse is an award-winning monthly publication of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Permission from the editor is required to reprint any material. WILLIAM F. McKEON President and Chief Executive Officer, Texas Medical Center President's Perspective P ublic attitude toward certain diseases and conditions can be perplexing, as this month's cover story on measles suggests. Over the course of my own life, I have noticed this most acutely in regard to mental illness. While I have observed some progression of society's under- standing and support of mental illness, we've got a long way to go. During my formative years, mental illness carried a social stigma of shame. It was never dis- cussed. I remember two classmates of mine who were clearly suffering from mental illness and then suddenly disappeared from school, never to return. Treatment alternatives at the time were extremely crude, often involving isolation, heavy sedation and/or rudimentary shock therapy. I often wonder if my classmates were ever able to recover and return to productive lives. Over the past decades, though, we have begun to address the stigma attached to mental illness. Today, adolescents are certainly more open to seeking help and discussing mental health issues. While progress has been made in developing therapeutics that are more refined in addressing symptoms, the time spent and side-effects endured when finding the optimal drug can be daunting. New technologies utilizing DNA sequencing and analysis, however, offer new hope in determining the ideal drug for each patient. Finally, legislation in recent years is attempting to bring parity to reimbursement for mental illness treatment to match that of physical illness. This is long overdue and an important step forward in addressing the multiple layers of shame and discrimination associated with mental illness. There is no vaccine for depression, for bipolar disorder, for an eating disorder. Thousands of years ago, we understood the essential connection between our mental and physical health. Perhaps we need to look back to move forward. Mark Mulligan/© Houston Chronicle. Used with permission.

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