Thank you for joining us for episode 469 of Live Happy Now.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and today's guest reminds us that we can't just be aware of the problem.

We need to take action.

I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I'm joined by mental health advocate Patrick

J. Kennedy, whose new book, Profiles in Mental Health Courage, shares the dramatic stories

of people who are living with mental illness. Because of his own challenges with mental

illness and addiction, the former congressman is on a mission to change how we view mental

illness in this country and,

importantly, change the way we treat it. His bold plan for the future of mental health includes

bipartisan action to identify, treat, and manage conditions earlier to enrich the lives of all those

affected. Let's have a listen. Patrick, thank you for joining me on Live

Happy Now. Paula, it's good to be with you. Well, this is Mental Health Awareness Month,

a fantastic time to talk to you. I'm so impressed because you have been very open with your own

mental health and addiction struggles. So I wondered, what led you to initially disclose all that?

Well, I didn't really have a choice, you know, being a Kennedy and in the public eye.

I tried to keep my addiction secret, you know, as all of us try to do, because of the shame and

stigma. But I had a roommate in drug rehab who sold his story of being in rehab

with me, with a Kennedy, back when I was starting my political career. And of course,

I thought my political career would be short-lived after that disclosure. But I was fortunate to

represent a district in Rhode Island and my constituency,

the only thing they disliked more than drug addicts were people who ratted on drug addicts.

So I survived that election and then I went on to Congress. And because I had been outed,

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