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American Morning
Interview with Tipper Gore
Aired October 10, 2002 - 09:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Shedding light on the darkness that's brought on by depression, it's been a long time cause for former Second Lady Tipper Gore. President Clinton named her the White House mental health adviser, and she organized the first White House conference on mental illness three years ago.
Today, you might not know this, happens to be National Depression Screening Day, and Mrs. Gore joins us now to talk about the illness and how people can actually get some free screenings today -- Welcome back, good to see you again.
TIPPER GORE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE MENTAL HEALTH ADVISER: Good to see you, Paula. Thank you.
ZAHN: How do people go about finding these screenings today?
GORE: Well, they can go to the Web site, NOSTIGMA.ORG. They can go to -- the Web site, I think you have up on the screen, and find out the nearest place that they can get an anonymous screening. They can go themselves, they can take a member of their family, they can take a teenager or a child, and get an evaluation that will let them know whether or not they need to follow up, that the person or the child, perhaps, is clinically depressed.
ZAHN: We are going to leave this phone number up for a second so folks can jot it down.
In the meantime, I want to move along to what you think are some of the obvious signs that people need to look at to see if they're having any problems given, particularly given the events of this traumatic year America has experienced.
GORE: Well, I think that's really important to stress. People have to deal with depression all the time anyway. I mean, it's a medical, biological illness. I think since 9/11, I think a lot of the events of the past year, that the level of anxiety in this country has risen dramatically.
ZAHN: Let's start off with the warning signs in adults, and then I want you to move along to the children. What should we look out for?
GORE: I think you are going to be listing them, and...
ZAHN: We have got melancholy mood, loss of enjoyment in everyday activities, changes in sleep and appetite.
GORE: Right, and personal hygiene, and if any of these last for more than two weeks, a person should check in with their doctor.
ZAHN: Are the symptoms any different with children?
GORE: Yes.
ZAHN: We are going to put up on the screen now some of the things we should look out for as parents, particularly at a time when there has been so much focus on teenage depression. That is a big problem in this country right now.
GORE: It's a huge problem, and we're going to talk about that. With kids, teenagers in particular, they -- physical complaints. They can be having stomach aches or headaches, frequent absences from school, or a decline in school performance.
And again, some of the other things that we just talked about that applied to adults, sleeping too much, sleeping too little, changes in behavior, withdrawal, isolation. Changes in personal hygiene. A parent has to know their child, and if they detect these changes, then they ought to perhaps get the child into screening today for free, or into their regular doctor.
If I can just say...
ZAHN: Sure.
GORE: Suicide is the third leading cause of death in young people, and there are so many young people that either think about it or talk about it, and we really need to take it seriously, because if we can get them in to help before it gets to that degree, we've saved lives.
ZAHN: I have noticed the number of times this morning you made it clear that the screening tests people can take today are anonymous. Let's talk about the stigma that still is attached to these issues.
You grew up in a home where your mother had some of these issues. Has it gotten any better in our acceptance of what these mental health problems mean?
GORE: There is still stigma, and I think that is one of the biggest things to fight, because we need to look at mental health issues, the same way we look at health issues. If you had a heart attack, I'd say, Paula, how are you doing? If you had diabetes or high blood pressure, we would talk about that, and with people who have mental health issues, we should be doing it the same way.
We need to encourage children to come forward, and teenagers to come forward, or else we're passing the stigma along to another generation. It's got to stop.
ZAHN: Do you remember what it was like being a child in your household, knowing that what was going on in your house was very private, but if people found out about it, it could be humiliating in some way? GORE: Absolutely. My family was very supportive. My mother suffered from depression. She would become ill. She would recover. I can remember her going to get new jobs, and not wanting to fill out what had happened to her, and I thought, why? This is wrong. I had a sense of moral outrage about it at the time, I thought it was terribly unfair. You know, America is a fair country.
ZAHN: You have been working very hard over the last several months finishing off a book with your husband, which is going to hit bookstores soon, right?
GORE: November 12.
ZAHN: Are you happy with it?
GORE: I'm so excited. It feels so good to have that project finished, and I'm very excited about the topic, families redefined.
ZAHN: We know we keep on pestering your husband with the big question, if he is going to run again. I know you are not going to answer it. The question is, do you want him to run again?
GORE: I think we will get together as a family a little bit later in the year and decide. I have told him that I will be with him, as I always have been, with whatever decision he makes.
ZAHN: Are you anxious to have him put his toe in to the ring, as it were?
GORE: I'm just anxious for him to make the decision one way or the other. That will decrease my level of generalized anxiety.
ZAHN: I can imagine there's been a lot as the speculation wars continue.
Thank you very much for dropping by, and I hope that people listen to you and take advantage of some of the screenings -- free screening tests that are out there.
GORE: Thank you.
ZAHN: Best of luck to you. Thanks for dropping by.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 10, 2002 - 09:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Shedding light on the darkness that's brought on by depression, it's been a long time cause for former Second Lady Tipper Gore. President Clinton named her the White House mental health adviser, and she organized the first White House conference on mental illness three years ago.
Today, you might not know this, happens to be National Depression Screening Day, and Mrs. Gore joins us now to talk about the illness and how people can actually get some free screenings today -- Welcome back, good to see you again.
TIPPER GORE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE MENTAL HEALTH ADVISER: Good to see you, Paula. Thank you.
ZAHN: How do people go about finding these screenings today?
GORE: Well, they can go to the Web site, NOSTIGMA.ORG. They can go to -- the Web site, I think you have up on the screen, and find out the nearest place that they can get an anonymous screening. They can go themselves, they can take a member of their family, they can take a teenager or a child, and get an evaluation that will let them know whether or not they need to follow up, that the person or the child, perhaps, is clinically depressed.
ZAHN: We are going to leave this phone number up for a second so folks can jot it down.
In the meantime, I want to move along to what you think are some of the obvious signs that people need to look at to see if they're having any problems given, particularly given the events of this traumatic year America has experienced.
GORE: Well, I think that's really important to stress. People have to deal with depression all the time anyway. I mean, it's a medical, biological illness. I think since 9/11, I think a lot of the events of the past year, that the level of anxiety in this country has risen dramatically.
ZAHN: Let's start off with the warning signs in adults, and then I want you to move along to the children. What should we look out for?
GORE: I think you are going to be listing them, and...
ZAHN: We have got melancholy mood, loss of enjoyment in everyday activities, changes in sleep and appetite.
GORE: Right, and personal hygiene, and if any of these last for more than two weeks, a person should check in with their doctor.
ZAHN: Are the symptoms any different with children?
GORE: Yes.
ZAHN: We are going to put up on the screen now some of the things we should look out for as parents, particularly at a time when there has been so much focus on teenage depression. That is a big problem in this country right now.
GORE: It's a huge problem, and we're going to talk about that. With kids, teenagers in particular, they -- physical complaints. They can be having stomach aches or headaches, frequent absences from school, or a decline in school performance.
And again, some of the other things that we just talked about that applied to adults, sleeping too much, sleeping too little, changes in behavior, withdrawal, isolation. Changes in personal hygiene. A parent has to know their child, and if they detect these changes, then they ought to perhaps get the child into screening today for free, or into their regular doctor.
If I can just say...
ZAHN: Sure.
GORE: Suicide is the third leading cause of death in young people, and there are so many young people that either think about it or talk about it, and we really need to take it seriously, because if we can get them in to help before it gets to that degree, we've saved lives.
ZAHN: I have noticed the number of times this morning you made it clear that the screening tests people can take today are anonymous. Let's talk about the stigma that still is attached to these issues.
You grew up in a home where your mother had some of these issues. Has it gotten any better in our acceptance of what these mental health problems mean?
GORE: There is still stigma, and I think that is one of the biggest things to fight, because we need to look at mental health issues, the same way we look at health issues. If you had a heart attack, I'd say, Paula, how are you doing? If you had diabetes or high blood pressure, we would talk about that, and with people who have mental health issues, we should be doing it the same way.
We need to encourage children to come forward, and teenagers to come forward, or else we're passing the stigma along to another generation. It's got to stop.
ZAHN: Do you remember what it was like being a child in your household, knowing that what was going on in your house was very private, but if people found out about it, it could be humiliating in some way? GORE: Absolutely. My family was very supportive. My mother suffered from depression. She would become ill. She would recover. I can remember her going to get new jobs, and not wanting to fill out what had happened to her, and I thought, why? This is wrong. I had a sense of moral outrage about it at the time, I thought it was terribly unfair. You know, America is a fair country.
ZAHN: You have been working very hard over the last several months finishing off a book with your husband, which is going to hit bookstores soon, right?
GORE: November 12.
ZAHN: Are you happy with it?
GORE: I'm so excited. It feels so good to have that project finished, and I'm very excited about the topic, families redefined.
ZAHN: We know we keep on pestering your husband with the big question, if he is going to run again. I know you are not going to answer it. The question is, do you want him to run again?
GORE: I think we will get together as a family a little bit later in the year and decide. I have told him that I will be with him, as I always have been, with whatever decision he makes.
ZAHN: Are you anxious to have him put his toe in to the ring, as it were?
GORE: I'm just anxious for him to make the decision one way or the other. That will decrease my level of generalized anxiety.
ZAHN: I can imagine there's been a lot as the speculation wars continue.
Thank you very much for dropping by, and I hope that people listen to you and take advantage of some of the screenings -- free screening tests that are out there.
GORE: Thank you.
ZAHN: Best of luck to you. Thanks for dropping by.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
