Board of Aldermen 05-25-2021 Page 58
Since David’s passing, | have tried to make some sense of it but honestly there is no way to make real sense
of any loss let alone that of suicide. What | have learned is that there are many resources out there and | have
learned that mental illness does not have a one size fits all solution. There is not a single medication nor a
single form of counseling that can help everyone. Sadly, it is a true trial by error. David went through many
medications, some that helped but caused other issues and some that had no effect at all. | don’t know why
David felt so hopeless that he could not go on any longer but | do know that he had to feel so desperate that he
felt it was his only way out, even leaving his wife and daughters that he loved desperately. | don’t want David's
death to go unspoken and | don’t want David’s family to feel that their loss is just one more statistic so as |
said, | have been earnestly trying to do my homework and learn as much as possible about Mental Health in
this country and in our beautiful state of NH. | have learned so much and yet learned that | know so little as
probably many of you feel. The first thing that | am learning is that none of us are alone in this journey. There
are so many people who are there to help us learn and to help us understand BUT equally as devastating is
the fact that in this country and in this state Mental Healthcare funding is below par. We treat Mental Health as
if it is not equal to a Physical ailment even reimbursing Mental Healthcare workers less than those of other
Healthcare workers. What | do want to say is that regardless of the reimbursement rates and the lack of
Psychiatrists here in NH there ARE people and organizations that want to help. Sadly because of the lack of
resources many who need help may have to wait 3, or 6 or even 9 months to get an initial visit.
Greater Nashua Mental Health Center recently had a discussion session with the Honorable Chief Justice John
Broderick. It started with a video of Justice Broderick speaking about HIS story and asking for HELP to break
down barriers, remove the stigma and to increase awareness. He spoke about the fact that Mental Illness is
just that it is an illness that as | said no one asked for and no one deserves. He spoke to the fact that we need
to treat it as we would diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc. If someone was having a heart problem would they
be expected to wait 3, 6, or 9 months for an initial appointment? | don’t think so and to quote Justice Broderick
that would be actually immoral so | guess, | don’t understand why it happens today for those needing Mental
Healthcare?
Chief Justice Broderick’s video spoke about his son’s alcoholism, learning later that it was a tool to self-
medicate his battle with mental illness. He also spoke about the family’s struggles along the way. He speaks
to school children and adults to help eliminate the stigma and perceived shame of Mental Illness. While Mental
Illnesses do not necessarily equal suicide the rate of suicide due to mental illness is on the rise. He usually
starts each discussion with anyone who has NOT had to deal with a personal issue of mental illness or known
a friend or family member with the disease please stand up. As he would look around the room, he was
stunned that almost no one stood up. When! would speak to people about Cancer, | often found that | got the
same response. Like many diseases mental illness touches all or most of our lives and to see it can’t be
treated like it doesn’t exist or that it can be cured goes beyond common sense.
Over the years | have lost 8 family and friends (including David), to suicide and each time | pray that it is the
last that | will have to live through but sadly, | no longer believe that is the case. Chief Justice gave out some
eye popping statistics during our discussion after his video that honestly scared me. He spoke to us about the
results of the CDC 2019 High School Students questionnaire. | won’t sit here and give you all of the statistics
but | will ask that they be included in the minutes along with the link to Chief Justice Broderick’s videos. | do
want to state that per the CDC, Suicide is the 2" most cause of death in our high schools. | will share one set
of numbers that the Chief Justice shared... In our country there are 1.4 million Lawyers; 650K CPA’s and only
28K Psychiatrists. With the number of people in need of help, we have to ask WHY so few Psychiatrists...|
can only guess and say that it is related to the high cost of education and the low pay/reimbursements. | can’t
bring back David, or my uncle Jack, or my cousins Ronnie, Michael & Tommy, or my friend Eddie, or my friend
Laura who was killed by her father, Richard in a murder/suicide, or my ex-husband Michael. With the
exception of Laura, each of these people took their own lives because of the stigma of mental illness and what
they felt it was doing to their families. While we can’t fix the problem tonight, we can start a conversation and
we can listen to those who know so much more that we do and we can work to fix our broken system. We
have so many incredible Mental Healthcare Heroes all around this city, state, and country and even some on
this Board. We need to give them the tools they need to help each of us who has been touched by mental
illness and we need to break down the barriers to getting help. Please remember that mental illness is a
lifelong battle like other diseases like diabetes. There is no quick fix and sometimes we need to try different
