Mental health issues are often a part of a chronic disease such as Parkinson’s, but no one comes into a disease as a blank slate. They bring with them their whole being – their relationships, anxieties, social and personal experiences. Therefore distress in the setting of a disease should not only be ascribed to having the disease but should also take the whole person into account. In this podcast, Licensed Clinical Social Worker Kara Barton, a clinical instructor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, discusses how to recognize mental distress, ways to access care, the healthcare providers who can help, and possible ways of getting care when insurance does not cover it.