WASHINGTON — On their first date, California Sen. Alex Padilla and his wife, Angela, were waiting to order food when she told him she wanted to talk to him about something. Over the next few hours, she talked about how growing up she and her mother “struggled with hospitals, doctors, and insurance for years” for her mental health.
By the time the check arrived, Padilla said he told Angela: We are just starting to get to know each other. Trust me, I can be careful. ”
But to her surprise, it wasn’t what she wanted. She told him in no uncertain terms that she should use her position in the state legislature to do something about this issue.
Padilla now submits his assignment to the U.S. Senate. He announced Tuesday that he and three other senators will form the House’s first mental health caucus. The Caucus is an organization dedicated to reducing mental health stigma, improving quality of care, and expanding the mental health workforce.
Maria Guadalupe Alcaraz, mother-in-law of Sen. Alex Padilla, meets with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Provided courtesy of Senator Alex PadillaThe caucus was formed in response to the shockwaves in American politics. Sen. John Fetterman announced that he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a medical check-up shortly after winning his controversial campaign. Treatment of severe depression. Since then, he has gained worldwide attention for his outspoken statements on the issue.
Fetterman is one of 10 members of the new caucus, which includes five Democrats and five Republicans, but Padilla said he has already been approached by other senators who want to join. .
For the first time, the Padillas spoke to the Chronicle about their mother-in-law’s bipolar disorder with schizoaffective disorder, its impact on their family, and how the senator’s sharing of personal stories changed people. He talked in detail about what can be done. Living with mental illness.
“It’s always been very important for me to talk about this with everyone in my life,” said Angela Padilla, president of Fundamental Change, a mental health advocacy nonprofit. . “My family has never treated us like they wanted us to be quiet about it. Growing up in a Mexican household meant there was a huge stigma against mental illness. Yes. And I know many other families who wouldn’t have approached it this way.”
Angela Padilla said it took time to find the right system, but her mother, Maria Guadalupe Alcaraz, has been symptom-free for eight years. She said it’s important to find the right doctor who will take the time to “do all the work necessary to find the right balance and not just overprescribe.”
Maria Guadalupe Alcaraz and her daughter, mental health advocate Angela Padilla.
Provided courtesy of Senator Alex PadillaIt was by chance that they found the doctor. Alex Padilla said Angela Padilla attended the event and she reunited with Alcaraz’s former doctor from several years ago. Doctors went through the list of medications (there were six at the time, but they were constantly changing) and tried to narrow it down to the two that Alcaraz really needed.
Alex Padilla credited his mother-in-law’s stability over the past eight years to consistency. “In the past, we’ve had big life events that have been triggers for her. Like when[Angela]got pregnant with Alex and when we got married, we had emotional moments. Because there’s movement, chemicals and body chemistry. So stability has always been very good for her.”
But taking the drug was not a given. Although affordable, there is a potential barrier: weekly blood tests at the beginning of treatment. “Many doctors don’t prescribe it because of the hard work and dedication of her family,” Angela Padilla said, but for Alcaraz, “it worked wonders.” That’s what it means.
When the pandemic hit, Angela Padilla said she worried her mother would be affected by all the changes. “And it was the opposite. She got through the pandemic better than most people I know,” she said.
Her family’s world was uprooted when Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate in January 2021 during the pandemic.
“All of a sudden I’m traveling across the border. So it’s another thing to have separation anxiety when the kids are at school or maybe the parents are going out to dinner. “It’s quite another to go across the country on a highly visible job,” he said.
Angela Padilla said she enrolled in therapy. She said, “Her husband is across the country, so it was very important to me that she had someone to talk to.”
She also kept a close eye on her three sons, Roman, Alex, and Diego, who were badly affected, and sent them to therapy as well.
“They’re all going through different things. But for me therapy is like going to the dentist. I go to the dentist at least twice a year and get my teeth checked to get them cleaned. For me , it’s the same thing,” Angela Padilla said. “When we see they need help or are struggling in an area, we don’t hesitate.”
The closeness of their family has helped them weather the storm of the pandemic, mental illness, and the challenges of intercoastal relations. “Anyone who works near me knows that my first call in the morning is always her, and my last call at the end of the day. And just talking to Angela and the kids. And for me, it helps put perspective on life,” said Alex Padilla.
Fetterman and Padilla are not alone in sharing their personal experiences with mental illness.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, spoke publicly in 2019 about her struggles with depression during college and as a young mother, saying: minneapolis star tribuneAs she debated the issue as a lawmaker, “it started to feel weird that I wasn’t just saying, ‘Hey, I’m personally connected to this,'” she said. .
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, the Republican co-chair of the caucus, said he too has been through struggles.
“One in five people experience behavioral health issues…and I’m one of them,” Tillis told reporters Tuesday. “When I was diagnosed with the disease in 2007, there was a medication regimen that could be used to put my disease into remission. I then went into severe depression for about 6-8 weeks while I was coping while working and raising a family.”
Padilla said their top priority is to ensure that the provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 are properly implemented. The legislation included the creation of a school-based mental health services program, expanded access to behavioral health telehealth for Medicaid enrollees, and additional training and funding requirements for mental health services.
Padilla said increasing awareness means more people are seeking help but not finding available medical professionals, so expanding the workforce must be a priority. admitted.
Even for those who can afford it, “there just aren’t enough providers and doctors to provide the kind of support and treatment that so many people need,” Angela Padilla said. Told.
“Despite all the work we have done in recent years to raise awareness, overcome stigma and encourage people to seek help, people are struggling to get help in a timely manner. It would be cruel to suggest that,” Padilla said. he told reporters.
Contact Shira Stein: [email protected]; Twitter: @shiramstein
