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What happens when the systems designed to help people with serious mental illness become the very barriers preventing care?

In Part 2 of this important conversation, Tony Mantor welcomes Dr. Aaron Meyer and Anne Marie Council for a candid discussion about the failures and possibilities within America's mental health system. Together, they explore why so many individuals spend years cycling through emergency rooms, jails, homelessness, and crisis without ever receiving the long-term treatment they truly need.

The conversation examines the gap between policy and practice, the importance of housing with wraparound support, and why accountability—not simply creating more laws—may be the key to meaningful change.

This episode challenges listeners to rethink assumptions about involuntary treatment, homelessness, public safety, and compassion while offering practical ways communities can advocate for a better behavioral health system.

If you've ever wondered why so many people fall through the cracks, this conversation provides insight, hope, and a call to action. 

In This Episode

• Why the "10-year loop" delays treatment for countless people living with serious mental illness
• How emergency rooms and jails have become default mental health providers
• The importance of continuous support instead of one-time stabilization
• Why existing mental health laws are often not fully implemented
• The need for more psychiatric beds and comprehensive treatment options
• How housing combined with wraparound services can change lives
• The role families and caregivers play in advocating for better care
• Why stigma continues to prevent people from receiving help
• The importance of investigative journalism and public accountability
• Practical ways listeners can become advocates for change in their own communities
• Why empathy and person-centered care must become the foundation of mental health policy

Key Takeaway

Serious mental illness is not a moral failing or a criminal issue—it is a healthcare issue. Until communities invest in accessible treatment, supportive housing, and systems that prioritize people over bureaucracy, too many individuals will continue cycling through crisis instead of recovery.

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In this important episode of Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide, Tony Mantor sits down with Dr. Alan Meyer, psychiatrist and Behavioral Health Officer for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and Ann Marie Council, retired Senior Deputy City Attorney and mental health policy advisor, for an in-depth discussion about the challenges facing today's mental health system. 

Together, they explore why so many individuals with serious mental illness fall through the cracks, the disconnect between policy and real-world implementation, and how communities can better support those in crisis before tragedy strikes.

The conversation covers assisted outpatient treatment, California's CARE Act, healthcare burnout, homelessness, autism, schizophrenia, and the urgent need for earlier intervention and stronger collaboration between healthcare providers, lawmakers, first responders, and community organizations.

This is the first of a two-part series that shines a light on the people working to create meaningful change in mental healthcare.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why mental health and physical health must be treated together
• The barriers preventing people from receiving timely care
• How policy often fails frontline healthcare workers
• The role of cities, counties, and states in behavioral health services
• Why assisted outpatient treatment remains difficult to access
• How technology and AI could improve mental health access
• The importance of prevention instead of waiting for crisis
• Why community partnerships are essential for lasting solutions
• How burnout is affecting healthcare professionals and first responders
• What changes could transform the future of mental healthcare

Our Guests

Dr. Alan Meyer

• Psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego
• Behavioral Health Officer for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
• Specialist in complex behavioral health and high-utilizer emergency response systems

Ann Marie Council

• Retired Senior Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Diego
• Founding Partner and Mental Health Policy Advisor at Quarter Turn Strategies
• Advocate for legislative reform and improved mental health policy

Key Takeaway

Real change begins when healthcare, government, first responders, and communities stop working in silos and start working together. Early intervention, compassionate care, and practical policy reforms can save lives and restore hope for individuals and families navigating serious mental illness.

If this conversation inspires you, follow the show, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who believes mental health deserves greater understanding and action.

#MentalHealth #Autism #BehavioralHealth #Psychiatry #HealthcarePolicy #EarlyIntervention #SeriousMentalIllness #WhyNotMePodcast #TonyMantor #MentalHealthAwareness #Homelessness #CommunityCare

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We talk with John Rolls about the Gremlin Club’s Sunday open mic in Camarthen and how it grows from a rehearsal night into a welcoming community where people leave their troubles at the door. 

We dig into what real inclusion looks like for autism, mental health, and disability when the room treats everyone as equal and still makes space for what people need. 
• how the Gremlin Club open mic starts as a Welsh Factor practice night 
• why the night becomes about community building over competition 
• John stepping in to run it after Elise’s bowel cancer diagnosis 
• building confidence for nervous newcomers through crowd support 
• making space for autistic singers and people with mental health challenges 
• handling disability and access needs while keeping the same respect for everyone 
• why the event is not branded as karaoke and how the format keeps it fun 
• filming for nostalgia and feedback while choosing not to live stream 
• word-of-mouth promotion and small grassroots marketing efforts 
If this kind of conversation matters to you, follow the show so you don't miss what comes next. 

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We sit with author Jerri Clark as he explains how severe mental illness can create a “gone but not gone” grief that families carry in silence. 

We talk about ambiguous loss, why closure often never comes, and how to keep living with love and meaning even when the outcome is out of our control. 

• Jerri’s story of losing his son through psychosis, system failures, and suicide 
• What ambiguous loss means and why the ambiguity is unfixable 
• The guilt families feel when they grieve someone still living 
• Naming the losses: relationship, future, safety, predictability 
• Coping as a nonlinear process that does not deliver resolution 
• Learning to live with grief without letting it become your only identity 
• “This is not my fault” as a practical starting point 
• Adjust mastery and revising attachment when you cannot control outcomes 
• What readers can expect from the book’s “do now” reflections and exercises 
• Why community, empathy, and support networks matter for healing 

If this kind of conversation matters to you, follow the show so you don't miss what comes next. 

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We sit down with former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy to get specific about what a real national mental health strategy looks like and why the current system wastes money while people end up isolated, hospitalized, incarcerated, or living on the streets. 

We dig into integrated care, schools-based prevention, telehealth, and the rising risks of AI so listeners walk away with practical policy ideas and a clear sense of what needs to change next. 

• the need for a national blueprint that links housing, healthcare, and community supports 
• aligning financial incentives so integrated care becomes the default 
• why siloed budgets drive higher costs in ER use, incarceration, and homelessness 
• reducing stigma by integrating mental health into standard medical care 
• building mental health literacy through routine screening and early help in schools 
• expanding effective therapy access through telehealth and proper reimbursement 
• fixing cross-state licensure barriers to match patients with the right clinicians 
• rebuilding social connection as a core mental health intervention 
• using AI for personalized care while guarding against isolation and lost agency 
• preparing for AI-driven job disruption and the mental health impact of lost purpose 

If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world. 

INTRO/OUTRO Music: T. Wild

Mantor Music BMI

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We talk with former U.S. representative Patrick Kennedy about why mental health parity still fails in practice and what it takes to make insurers and employers cover care that actually works. 

We keep coming back to one idea: real change happens when we build power and design a system that rewards early help, long-term outcomes, and community support. 
• Barriers to full enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act 
• Why payers respond to penalties more than long-term value 
• How lobbying, regulation and legal appeals weaken consumer protections 
• Building political power by organizing families and breaking silos 
• The business case for early intervention and recovery supports 
• Why supportive housing and community services can beat revolving-door crisis care 
• The 90-90-90 by 2033 framework for screening, evidence-based care and recovery 
• Lessons from the Community Mental Health Act and the cost of dividing communities 
• Moving from over-medicalized solutions to integration, purpose and connection 
If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world.

INTRO/OUTRO Music: T. Wild

Mantor Music BMI

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We sit down with Colorado State Senator Judy Amabile to connect one family’s painful path through serious mental illness to the laws that decide whether people get treatment or get pushed into homelessness and the courts. 

We talk honestly about psychosis, stigma, and the hard policy choices behind civil commitment, Medicaid rules, and building enough beds to stop the cycle.
• Her son’s schizoaffective disorder and the road to diagnosis
• Early signs like paranoia and thought broadcasting
• Family anger and confusion turning into empathy
• NAMI Family-to-Family as a bridge to advocacy
• Why mental illness feels like the “no casserole disease”
• The jump from lived experience to writing policy
• Civil commitment and AOT as a contested safety net
• Competency waitlists and why they don’t equal treatment
• The “churn” between jail, hospitals, and the street
• Medicaid changes that allow longer inpatient stays
If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world.
One last thing, spread the word about why not me.

MUSIC INTRO/OUTRO: T. Wild

MANTOR MUSIC BMI

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We sit down with Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds to talk about how personal loss turns into a long-term push for mental health reform that actually survives the news cycle. 

We focus on what legislation can change, what funding really buys, and why the mental health workforce crisis is the wall every good idea hits. 
• his path from rural public service to mental health advocacy after his son’s diagnosis and death 
• why he builds a legislator-led commission so reforms do not die on a shelf 
• taking lawmakers into hospitals, crisis units, and schools to see gaps firsthand 
• expanding community mental health services statewide through budget-driven mandates 
• investing in long-term supportive housing as a stability tool for serious mental illness 
• assisted outpatient treatment limits when there are not enough clinicians to deliver care 
• loan forgiveness, residency expansion, and pay increases to strengthen the behavioral health workforce pipeline 
• handling constituent calls and the emotional weight families carry when the system fails 
• the mental health and criminal justice intersection, including CIT training and Marcus Alert 
• normalizing mental health care as health care and reducing stigma so people get help earlier 

If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world. 
One last thing spread the word about why not me.

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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
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We sit down with former Maine State Senator John Nutting to talk about why serious mental illness belongs in the medical system, not the jail system, and how court ordered treatment can keep people alive and communities safer. We walk through Maine’s Progressive Treatment Plan, the fight to fund and implement it, and what families can do to push for mental health legislation that actually works. 
• John Nutting’s background in public service and the case for treating brain disorders like any other medical condition 
• What Maine calls AOT and how the Progressive Treatment Plan works in practice 
• Why anosognosia changes the ethics and logistics of “voluntary” treatment 
• The gap between family needs and what policy often delivers 
• How cycling through hospitals and jails destroys bed capacity and budgets 
• Lessons from other states, including Kendra’s Law, Kevin’s Law, and concerns about voluntary-only models 
• What separates real legislation from bills that look good but fail in implementation 
• Concrete ways to advocate, find your state laws, and speak to the right lawmakers 
If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world. One last thing spread the word about why not me. 

INTRO/OUTRO Music: T. Wild

Mantor Music BMI

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We talk with Iowa State Representative Ann Meyer about how mental health legislation gets built and why access to care still fails families in crisis. 

We dig into provider shortages, the fight for mandatory follow-up after commitment, and how constituents can move lawmakers with personal stories and local relationships. 
• her path from nursing to the Iowa House and why constituent stories changed her focus 
• why access to mental health care breaks down during a crisis and what “waiting” really means 
• the provider shortage problem and steps to grow psychiatry and therapy capacity 
• incentives that help recruit and retain clinicians in rural states 
• why 30 days of treatment is often not enough for severe mental illness 
• the case management follow-up bill that passed the House then stalled in the Senate 
• how law enforcement and ERs absorb the cost when the system fails 
• homelessness, shelter rules, and the overlap with substance use disorder 
• how to speed change through education, budgeting strategies, and persistent advocacy 
• why reaching out to your state legislator works and how to do it with a personal story 
If you know someone who has a story to share, tell them to contact us at why notme.world. 
One last thing spread the word about why not me. 

INTRO/OUTRO Music: T. Wild

Mantor Music BMI

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intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild
Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)

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