Mental illness transforms into rights movement
Although Americans have long kept depression and other psychological disorders as dirty secrets, a growing popular movement hopes that politicians, insurance companies, and ordinary citizens will soon view mental illness as they would any other health affliction, such as a toothache, that could qualify an individual for insurance coverage. Analysts say the work of activists such as Tipper Gore and mental health advocacy groups, along with a generation of baby boomers less hesitant to talk about issues formerly considered too personal, has led to the de-stigmatization of psychological illness. The result has been a popular mental health movement that, among other things, has politicized mental health care coverage. "Formerly, mental health was pushed off into a different realm which people did not want to talk about.