Underlying many of Alabama’s societal challenges, from homelessness to prison overcrowding to school failure to unemployment, is undiagnosed or mistreated mental illness. One in ten people will experience mental illness, but The National Institute of Mental Health reports that only one-third of Americans with mental health problems get care.
On Monday, March 13, WBHM concluded our year-long series “Making Sense of Mental Health” with a special call-in program. We talked to mental health experts and consumers and took listener questions and comments.
Mr. Battle describes himself as a “Humanologist”, meaning he studies the behavioral traits of humans to determine if they are headed toward success or failure and then re-directs their path if necessary. He is active in local community theatre, enjoys playing the banjo, and is a crusader against child abuse.
Dr. Feldman is past president of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists as well as a past president of the Birmingham Psychiatric Society. She is the recipient of an UAB Outstanding Faculty Award and the NAMI Exemplary Psychiatrist Award. Dr. Feldman received the inaugural Alabama Alliance for the Mentally III Public Psychiatrist of the Year Award and has been selected on numerous times as one of the Best Doctors in America .
Dr. Michael is a board-certified internist. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He was an intern and resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. From 1974 to 1976 he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In 1986 he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in Washington, DC, serving on the Health Subcommittee of the Committee of Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Editor’s note: This is the latest story in a year-long commitment to covering mental health issues in Alabama. You can learn more about our “Making Sense of Mental Health”
project and find local mental health resources — as our commitment continues throughout the year — inside this website.