The Roaring Fork Valley is part of a national effort to tackle mental health problems. Locals met with state mental health leaders this weekend to talk about what the key issues are here. The goal is to help figure out the best way to solve them.
Diane Mulligan is leading the effort. She's Project Director for Creating Community Solutions Colorado. Mulligan says one of the key first steps is making it easier for people to talk about mental illness.
"Much the way twenty, thirty years ago, there was a huge stigma around breast cancer, and fifty years ago there was a huge stigma around polio. Now we understand and embrace those disease. We need to do the same with mental health and mental illness."
Mulligan recently spoke with APR's Elise Thatcher. They started by talking about why starting a conversation, overcoming stigmas about mental health, are so important.