Retire-to Volunteering

099 Tom Starling—Mental Health America Before Stage 4—Mental Health America “Before Stage 4!” Tom Starling, the chief executive of Mental Health America (MHA) of Middle Tennessee, explains his organization’s mantra: “People with something wrong with their body wouldn’t knowingly wait until the disease reached Stage 4 before seeking treatment. But when something is wrong mentally or emotionally, they suffer in silence.” Why? Because of the stigma that society attaches to mental illness. MHA is not a direct-client service provider for persons with mental illness. Rather, their role is to crack open the hard shell of the stigma so that more people can move from suffering to recovery. A big crack starts with the awareness of just how many people are affected by the diseases labeled “mental illness”: 1 in 5 annually! Some of those people might come to mind quickly, perhaps ones with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, but many more are “under the radar.” Mental illness spans the spectrum from “womb to tomb,” includ