Mike Pence in NH calls for more institutional mental health care

Welcome to or welcome back to New Hampshire. I’m sure you’re very aware that May is uh Mental Health Awareness Month. Our own Governor Sununu signed *** proclamation and this week, I, I think it’s uh maybe Thursday um is National Mental Health Action Day. So you talked about mental health um in this, in your state of Indiana and the importance of providing it for everyone. I’m *** psychologist. I’ve been *** psychologist for 40 years now and I’m *** grandmother as well and I’m seeing *** national mental health crisis. This is *** marathon and it’s not *** sprint. The Children and teenagers that I see um are in for *** long haul in their challenges. I’m very concerned about the 22 plus suicides *** day in our military. The LGBT Q community is at high risk for mental health crises. And one out of three adolescent girls are considering suicide and are depressed and or anxious. So given all of that, what are your presidential plans to directly concretely um address this issue? And would you be willing to appoint *** mental health czar and *** commission to go along with that? Well, I I think it’s *** marvelous idea. I’ve never liked the term, but I don’t know what else to use. Make such *** great point in the wake of the worst pandemic in 100 years. There’s *** new epidemic in America and it’s *** mental health crisis among young people, among various groups of Americans. And I think some of it comes out of COVID. I would, you’re the psychologist. I think some of it comes out of the isolation in COVID for young people. I think it also comes out of the isolation in social media, which sounds like an oxymoron. But actually kids that are living on their phone instead of interacting with friends in person, end up really struggling with depression and with loneliness. And so I, I think, I think we’ve got to lean into this effort. I I I mentioned my wife Karen before when one of her initiatives, when she was Second Lady of the United States was called Events initiative. It was to prevent suicide among our veterans. But during COVID, we broadened it out across the country to kind of raise awareness. My, my wife coined the phrase uh during those days, she said it’s, it, it’s OK to say you’re not OK. And it’s something I’m sure you know, you, you tell your patients on *** regular basis is just first come, come forward and tell people you’re struggling with an issue and then, and then making sure that that states and localities have the resources to come alongside people. But it, in, in *** very real sense, we’re, we’re going through um for our kids and for many people in the population and an epidemic of mental health and, and, and, and we, I think we can deal with it. We can look to the experts, we can engage, we can strengthen families in America. I love that Bible verse that says he puts the lonely in families and so strengthening families is also *** way that we deal with helping people achieve *** greater sense of wholeness in their lives. Uh But uh but at the, at, at the end of the day when it comes to people that might represent *** threat to themselves or *** danger to others, I think we gotta get back to institutional mental health care. I, I, I really do. We, in the 19 seventies, we all walked away from it as *** country. I worked in patient as well, but we gotta keep working on it. And I, I think *** great lead and, and you know, this in public service relies on those who are experts in their fields. And that when I was governor, that’s why we broke ground and built the first mental health hospital in 30 years in Indiana because I heard from mental health experts, I heard from law enforcement, they just said, we just, we just don’t have anywhere to go when we’ve got someone that has *** problem could potentially be *** danger to themselves or others. But I think we need to think more broadly about that, particularly, it’s also the relationship between mental health, benign, not dangerous issues. And homelessness is, is extraordinary. And there are many people living in, in homeless lives today that we ought to as *** nation have somewhere they can be cared for and we ought, we ought to seek to do that. But I appreciate your work. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Mike Pence calls for more mental health institutions to deal with crisis

Updated: 7:29 PM EDT May 19, 2023

Mike Pence said the country is going through a mental health crisis for children and other groups of Americans. “I think some of it comes out of COVID,” Pence said. “I think some of it comes out of the isolation in COVID for young people. I think it also comes out of the isolation in social media, which sounds like an oxymoron, but actually kids that are living on their phone instead of interacting with friends in person end up really struggling with depression and with loneliness.”The Republican answered a question from psychologist Laura Landerman-Garber, of Hollis, about solutions for what Pence called a “mental health epidemic.” Landerman-Garber suggested a mental health czar and commission to be established, but Pence offered a different idea.Pence proposed that the country gets back to “institutional mental health care.””At the end of the day, when it comes to people that might represent a threat to themselves or a danger to others, I think we’ve got to get back to institutional mental health care. I really do,” Pence said. Landerman-Garber then said great leaders will listen to experts in their fields, to which Pence agreed. See the full back-and-forth in the video player above.See the full “Conversation with the Candidate” event through the following links:Watch Part 1: Pence says he was angry with Donald Trump after Capitol riotWatch Part 2: Pence tells voters he supports national abortion restrictions, says he favors all-of-the-above energy policyWatch online exclusive: Pence talks about support for NATO, ensuring security of schoolsOther “Conversation with the Candidate” events will be held throughout the campaign season. The full list of candidates who participate will be updated here.

Mike Pence said the country is going through a mental health crisis for children and other groups of Americans.

“I think some of it comes out of COVID,” Pence said. “I think some of it comes out of the isolation in COVID for young people. I think it also comes out of the isolation in social media, which sounds like an oxymoron, but actually kids that are living on their phone instead of interacting with friends in person end up really struggling with depression and with loneliness.”

The Republican answered a question from psychologist Laura Landerman-Garber, of Hollis, about solutions for what Pence called a “mental health epidemic.” Landerman-Garber suggested a mental health czar and commission to be established, but Pence offered a different idea.

Pence proposed that the country gets back to “institutional mental health care.”

“At the end of the day, when it comes to people that might represent a threat to themselves or a danger to others, I think we’ve got to get back to institutional mental health care. I really do,” Pence said.

Landerman-Garber then said great leaders will listen to experts in their fields, to which Pence agreed.

See the full back-and-forth in the video player above.

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See the full “Conversation with the Candidate” event through the following links:

Other “Conversation with the Candidate” events will be held throughout the campaign season. The full list of candidates who participate will be updated here.