No Health Without Mental Health: Denny Morrison at TEDxBloomington

Denny Morrison challenges three commonly held but irrational beliefs about behavioral health care: first, that having a mental illness or addiction is a stigma. ("To compare 'having a bad day' to major depression," he says, "is a bit like comparing a paper cut to an amputation.") Second, that the body and mind are two different things. Third, that if you have a diagnosis of mental health or addiction, it's "a living death sentence." Morrison is Chief Clinical Officer for Netsmart, the leading provider of clinical solutions for health and human services organizations nationwide. He served previously as the CEO of the Center for Behavioral Health (CBH) in Bloomington, Indiana since 1995. CBH was the first behavioral health company to ever win the JCAHO Codman Award for excellence in the use of outcomes measurement to achieve health care quality improvement; the second to win the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award for Excellence in the implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR); and is still the only organization in the world to have won both awards. In 2007, CBH was awarded the Negley Chairman's Award for Excellence in Risk Management. Morrison has worked in the behavioral health field since 1969. He holds a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Ball State University. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)