Us Weekly: The Missing Issue
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00:00Approximately 48.5 million Americans are grappling with substance misuse and what many people don't
00:06realize is approximately 50 percent of those people are using these substances to cope with
00:11mental health issues like anxiety, depression, ADHD and PTSD. These are known as co-occurring
00:18disorders which often go untreated. We want to change that so Us Weekly is partnering with
00:24The Harris Project to bring readers a very special edition of the magazine called
00:29The Missing Issue which is reframing the narrative on substance abuse and examining
00:34the stories of celebrities who have suffered with it and we want to give them deeper context
00:39around the connection between substance use and mental health challenges. And here to help us
00:44shed some light on this is Stephanie Marcusano. She's the founder of The Harris Project. Stephanie
00:51thank you for being here and sharing your story that is so personal to you. Stephanie you're here
00:58to talk about your son who you tragically lost at just 19 years old. What would you like to tell us
01:05about him? Thank you so much Dan. Thank you for having me. So Harris was the kind of kid who had
01:10a twinkle in his eye, a smile that lit up the room. Every single person knows a Harris. Engaging,
01:17humorous, athletic, empathetic, a poet and so when he walked into a room you knew he was there.
01:25He was somebody who humorous like he would tell a joke like it would come out as quick as he heard
01:30somebody say something he would have the funniest response and so for us you know that it's such
01:35a profound loss even 11 years later like nothing changes but he is so present like he was such a
01:42larger than life person when he was here that we feel him so deeply. When you scratch beneath
01:46the surface everybody knows somebody dealing with mental health disorders and people don't
01:51talk about it and that's why it's important for us to talk about it normalize it and normalize
01:56people getting help for these disorders. Exactly so Harris died on Wednesday. My daughter was a
02:02senior in high school. Harris was 19. His friends began coming home. His funeral was planned for
02:08Sunday. My husband and I looked at each other because everybody kept saying where do we make
02:13donations? What do we do to support you and your family? And I'm an attorney by training. I hadn't
02:18practiced in a long time. I was a PTA president. I was on the school board in my community when
02:23my kids were growing up and all I kept thinking was every residential treatment program said he
02:29had this thing called co-occurring disorders. It was the first time that we had ever heard of it.
02:33At the first time he went in a year and a half before he died and I was like I want to figure
02:38out co-occurring disorders. I want to figure out what we can do to prevent it and how we could
02:44treat it because it didn't make sense to me that you said he had something and then he was gone.
02:50So you know people are out there thinking I rely on professionals. I go to get help and support.
02:57If you have cancer, if you have heart disease, if you have diabetes, you know where to go. You know
03:01what the gold standard of care is and I just knew that there was something missing and so I eulogized
03:06Harris and I also launched the Harris Project. We've talked to celebrities about this who have
03:11said that the mental health conditions drive their addiction in the past and I think
03:18the understanding of telling people and talking about that is very important and do you believe
03:25that if your son was treated for these co-occurring conditions together things could
03:32have been ended differently? 100 percent and so the power of the prevention is to say okay until
03:37the treatment and system get it right, if we could educate and empower our young people and
03:42the people that care about them, home run. So the mental health challenges first, substance use to
03:47self-medicate, one part. Sometimes they happen both at the same time and that's a lot about
03:52the environment, biology, family history, genetics and so we want to educate and empower our young
03:58people that you can break the cycles in your family by getting help and support early and then
04:04for them not to be ashamed. Absolutely, the stigma, the shame which is still said you know
04:08you would probably be really happy helping a friend who's struggling but when you look at
04:13yourself you don't really want to share that, you don't want to share that vulnerability but now
04:18I'm somebody who can be in front of a thousand kids in an assembly and everybody's like so worried
04:22about how they're going to behave which has never ever ever been an issue but now they're thinking
04:27okay I don't have the mental health condition, I'm not part of that half of our young people in the
04:31United States that have mental health challenges. I can be a helper but I'm good but the final
04:37category of co-occurring disorders is one that impacts every young person in their late 20s and
04:42under which is using substances can change your brain chemistry so you can develop a mental health
04:48condition even if you weren't on track to. So now not only are we supporting people with mental
04:54health challenges and educating them that they might be at risk but we're making sure every
04:58young person understands where they might fit into the narrative. Hope? Abstinence until your
05:04brain is fully developed? Likely? Probably not but if they can begin to think about their why
05:10they take those 10 seconds like I'm doing this because I wasn't feeling comfortable, I was doing
05:14I thought I was bored but now I can't stop doing it and now I'm feeling anxious if I don't do it
05:19then you know to get help and support sooner. We don't have to act in crisis, we can act proactively
05:25to get help and support. Have you had families reach out to you who've been helped by the High
05:30Risk Project? So yeah so not only parents but the young people themselves and so in the beginning
05:36when treatment and systems were kind of like you know the big mountain to move and CODA was the
05:41happy fun place. Now imagine when you're presenting to kids and then you're getting the emails and the
05:46messages and they're saying things like I'm sorry I've been in treatment for an anxiety disorder for
05:50like three years. What were they waiting for telling me that I'm at higher risk for co-occurring
05:55disorders that substance use could be problematic for me. So that's me home run. Then families and
06:01young people who've had access to encompass treatment to really say you know my child's
06:07heard you know with me heard you on a webinar and said well I'm like Harris like how do I get that
06:12treatment and then somebody I you know like I get teary but somebody who's one of the first
06:18encompass cases just got engaged and he has four years in recovery and so those are the kind of
06:24moments where I think I haven't said this in a long time but when Harris first died and I did my
06:32very first presentation I looked at my daughter and we said if we could impact one life it would
06:40be a success and so the big picture you don't really feel every day is prevention working it's
06:45hard to tell but we kind of feel like it is but to hear from individuals who are directly impacted
06:50who are living lives that are successful that don't feel the shame that can recover out loud
06:55that are comfortable sharing about their mental health and substance use like that's so important
07:00we talk to kids about refusal skills I don't like only your narrative the more you talk about it
07:06the less stigma there is and it helps other people and you're spreading and you're helping
07:11thousands if not millions in the future exactly so is there anything else you want to share
07:15Stephanie so Dan when you and I first met I told you that I like to do my research ahead of any
07:22conversations that I have sounds like we should hire you at us weekly well I did find something
07:26that you said and I just want to share it and and make my own comment on this so you said in an
07:33interview the people we want to bring in are all aware that celebrity and entertainment it's not
07:38brain science we're not saving the world well Dan I'm not a celebrity it is brain science and you
07:47really are saving the world through this opportunity and I can't thank you enough
07:51Stephanie I'm so proud of the work we've done with the Harris Project with the missing issue at us
07:56weekly and it really is my hope that other media outlets will follow our example and change how
08:03they report on co-occurring disorders absolutely because knowledge is power you can't prevent
08:08something you've never heard of you can't demand access to better care if you don't know what's
08:12missing this struggle has touched millions of lives including celebrities with substance misuse
08:17and mental health challenges in an effort to continue this important conversation the missing
08:23issue will provide a more in-depth look at co-occurring disorders conversations with everyday
08:29people and experts on their experiences and details of celebrities own struggles through
08:35treatment in this special edition magazine we re-examine the stories of celebrities including
08:41Matthew Perry, Liam Payne, Juice WRLD and Amy Winehouse to retell their narratives with the
08:47deeper context that the world has missed the magazine seeks to help readers understand the
08:53connection between substance use issues and mental health challenges for the celebrities featured
08:59and millions of other Americans to help change the way we treat co-occurring disorders and
09:05ultimately to as Stephanie said to try and help save lives thanks Stephanie for being here and
09:11tell everyone where we can find out more information about the Harris Project please
09:16so theharrisproject.org is the first place Instagram we're theharrisprojectcod same thing
09:21on TikTok thanks so much for joining us thank you so much for having me I appreciate it