Kennedy, Bush Hager Talk Mental Health In West Hartford Forum

WEST HARTFORD, CT — (Contributed press release): To mark 2018 Mental Health Awareness Month, Jewish Family Services’ Tara’s Closet recently presented a forum featuring the Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy, with special guest moderator, best-selling author and NBC's Today contributing correspondent Jenna Bush Hager. The sold-out event was attended by 600 people at the Roberts Auditorium at Kingswood- Oxford School in West Hartford.

“We are all held hostage by the code of silence, by the stigma and shame that pervades mental health issues,” Kennedy said. “The only way to treat that shame is by talking about it.”

In an open dialogue between Bush Hager and Kennedy, the former congressman from Rhode Island, discussed his own experience with mental health. During his 16-year career representing Rhode Island in Congress, he fought a national battle to end medical and societal discrimination against these illnesses, highlighted by his lead sponsorship of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008--and his brave openness about his own mental health and addiction challenges.

“It is time to embark on a new medical civil rights fight,” said Kennedy addressing the current political issues with medical treatment for mental health and illness.

Kennedy and Bush Hager also discussed the opioid epidemic and emphasized the importance of mental-health education at an early age.

Jenna Polidoro, a student at Suffield Academy, also shared details about her battle against depression. Polidoro, now a senior in high school, said that she had been struggling with depression since she was a freshman, but was only diagnosed with depression a few months ago.

During an audience-driven Q&A forum, Bush Hager, Kennedy, Polidoro accompanied by Dr. Evan Fox, Assistant Medical Director of the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, offered insight on mental illness and its perception.

“We must change the perception of mental illness and create transparency, and acceptance,” Kennedy said. “It is crucial to openly discuss and normalize the conversation and make everyone feel like it’s their issue.”

Pictured (from left to right): Speakers Jenna Polidoro, Jenna Bush Hager, Patrick J. Kennedy, and Dr. Evan Fox. (Photo credit: J. Fiereck Photography)

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