Dear Susan,

You raise an excellent point. There are many famous and positively influential people in history who suffered from mental illness. Would they have been given a chance in today's world?

Currently, the attention given to famous people (whether politicians, movie or TV stars, and writers--they all have a degree of celebrity status attributed to them) has become not only increasingly more negative, but speculative about the real "facts" as well. I feel that reporters are ready to jump on any story to be the first to report it or air it--regardless of accuracy, and regardless of any stigma they are adding to an already very serious issue.

I applaud Congressman Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island who has shared his bipolar disorder and is a co-sponsor of the bill for mental health parity. What if he felt "less-than" and did not run for office and participate in this important work? Thank goodness he did not back down due to scrutiny

Thank you for raising this point.

Best, Kimberly Tyler