Patrick Kennedy shines light on mental health, addiction

At a time his cousin is running for president, former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) is trying to remove the stigma from addiction and mental health issues.

Speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Kennedy talked about battling his own demons during his eight terms in Congress and becoming aware of the battles others were fighting, saying: "What I realized is that all of us are walking through hallways not realizing how many of the rest of us are silently suffering."

The Rhode Island Democrat, first elected in 1994, was arrested after crashing into a traffic barrier in the middle of the night on Capitol Hill in May 2006 and subsequently sought treatment at the drug-rehabilitation center at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, a place he would return to in 2009. A year later, he announced his retirement from the House.

Kennedy's new book, written with Stephen Fried, is "Profiles in Mental Health Courage," a title that plays off President John F. Kennedy's best-selling 1956 book "Profiles in Courage," which focused on gallant senators from John Quincy Adams to Robert Taft.

Patrick Kennedy's book spotlights people trying to confront a range of personal challenges, as well as those around them.

"Often, in these narratives, we focus on the first person memoir, but we lose sight of all the other people who are affected by their illness," he told host Dana Bash. "And I think that was the consistent theme throughout the book is, we really interviewed all the family members and co-workers, colleagues, because we really don't have an appreciation for how this illness, which we say is one in four, is really one in one, because it affects everyone around the person who's suffering.”

Kennedy saw a role for public policy in battling these problems. He lamented that multiple industries have seemingly been given permission to benefit from addiction, including social media.

"As a nation, the adults are letting the next generation down, because here we are having addiction-for-profit industries," he said. "And it doesn't just end with social media. Every other ad is from sports betting, and gambling is a major mental health problem. And it's only going to increase because, like we learned with big tobacco, these companies that make money make money off of getting new subscribers, new people to smoke cigarettes, new people to smoke marijuana."

The son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) added: "Democrats used to be on the side of taking on corporate, big addiction-for-profit companies. And, unfortunately, I think we're letting down our next generation by letting that all happen.”

As for the presidential election itself, Kennedy is not supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a cousin who is running as an independent, instead backing President Joe Biden.

"Joe Biden has been the best president we have ever had on mental health," Kennedy told Bash, adding by way of clarification that he was definitely endorsing him: "He's the best."