Luciana Berger Quotes

As a candidate for Director-General of the WHO, I believe there is a key role WHO needs to play to improve and advance mental health. It can help advocate for efficient resources and services - and efforts to reduce stigma - to be in place at local, national, and global levels.

Well, I think it's important to stand as an advocate for the mentally ill.

I want to break down some of the stigma associated with mental illness.

Several politicians and wives of politicians have been public about their experiences with depression or bipolar illness, including Lawton Chiles, Patrick Kennedy, Tipper Gore and Kitty Dukakis. Each made a tremendous difference by doing so.

We're becoming so much better at destigmatizing all sorts of things, including mental illness in 'Silver Linings.'

We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.

The response from the beginning has been really, really wonderful and positive. People have always really responded to me talking about mental health.

I've always been an advocate for mental health.

It's not something I'm embarrassed about. Depression is an issue that tends to be brushed under the carpet. My hope is that if people with a public profile are prepared to talk about it, then it might prompt other people to talk about it too.

We need, ultimately, to be able to view mental health with the same clear-headedness we show when talking about physical health.

One day, I made a remark that I might work with people with mental illness, and somebody in the press heard it, and it was in the paper. And the more I thought about it and found out about it, the more I thought it was just a terrible situation with no attention. And I've been working on it ever since.

We need to change the culture of this topic and make it OK to speak about mental health and suicide.

Yes, this is 21st-century America. Where we have better means to treat mental illness than ever before, but choose to let the insane people decide to get it or not.

In an ideal world, it would not take a film star to get the media focused on mental illness.

When I announced my focus on mental health as first lady of Georgia in 1971, none but five mental health advocates in the state wanted to be involved with the issue.

Together with open conversations and greater understanding, we can ensure that attitudes for mental health change and children receive the support they deserve.

Mental health is an issue ailing everyone - it is so omnipresent in society, we must work towards making it better.

There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform I have, whatever voice I have to help eliminate the stigma.

I will alway support anybody being vocal about their mental illness, how they're dealing with it, and how it affects them. And I'll always support people waking up and paying attention to that.

Everyone knows someone who is struggling with a mental health issue, whether it's depression, trauma or substance abuse. It affects everyone, so we all have a stake in making sure good treatment is available.

It's so important that we figure out a way of moving beyond the stigma that still exists around treatment for mental health.

We will not give up the fight to ensure that mental health is the given the priority it needs and deserves.

Diagnoses exist to help get people services they need - but there's no such thing as mental illness. We're all mentally ill.

I have spent most of my life working with mental illness. I have been president of the world's largest association of mental-illness workers, and I am all for more funding for mental-health care and research - but not in the vain hope that it will curb violence.

Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.