Mental Health Advocates Oppose Effort To Remove Dallas Co. DA
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Mental health advocacy organizations say the effort by a former top administrator to remove Dallas County DA Susan Hawk from office should stop.
Papers were filed at the George Allen Courthouse on Tuesday by Cindy Stormer's attorney.
The mental health advocates sent a letter Thursday regarding the issue to Stormer and her lawyer requesting Stormer pull the petition to have Hawk removed.
Here is the letter:
Dear Ms. Stormer, Mr. Puls and Mr. Haney,
As leaders in the mental health community who are committed to fighting discrimination, public humiliation and furthering the stigma of illnesses that impact tens of millions of Americans, we respectfully ask you to withdraw your petition to remove District Attorney Susan Hawk from office for the following reasons.
Major Depressive Disorder, the diagnosis of Ms. Hawk, is a common mood disorder that affects more than 15 million Americans each year. It is treatable, and those who suffer may fully recover and lead very productive lives.
Susan Hawk recognized she was ill, sought treatment, did the hard work to recover and is now telling her story in hopes that she can help and inspire others to seek help.
Your lawsuit furthers the stigma, discourages others from seeking help and works directly against the progress we need on the issue of mental health.
Your lawsuit purposefully works against HIPAA laws that protect the private medical records of Americans, and could set a precedent that strips this privacy and promotes discrimination based on medical history.
Your lawsuit sets a new precedent that any current or future elected official must disclose physical or mental "defects" before running for office, or face being removed based on the discovery of such "defect".
Your lawsuit, which is based on past actions before Susan Hawk's treatment for depression, has no bearing on her current state post-treatment, and is only a clear attempt to use her depression to publicly humiliate her.
How Susan Hawk is treated after acknowledging her illness, accepting it, treating it and
recovering will define how any one with this or other mental illnesses can be treated,
even after they recover. We should not allow the discrimination, stereotyping and public
humiliation that this lawsuit represents to continue.
On behalf of our organizations, and the tens of millions of Americans who suffer from mental illness, we ask you to do what's right: to join us in ending the stigma, protecting
privacy laws and supporting mental health reform by withdrawing your petition against Susan Hawk.
Sincerely,
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas
Mental Health America (MHA) of Greater Dallas
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
Texas National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Dallas National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Collin County
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