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Dear Mrs. Gore:

© Amy Hillgren Peterson

What follows is my letter to Tipper Gore. I write because in the harried pace of Mr. Gore's candidacy and the upcoming convention, I do not want her to forget her commitment to mental health advocacy.

What follows is the website where you can send your own message to Tipper Gore:

http://www.whitehouse.gove/WH/Mail/html/...

To: Mrs. Gore From: Amy Hillgren Peterson e mail: amyhpete@siouxland.net RE: Mental Health Advocacy

I have always admired your work in the area of mental health advocacy, Mrs. Gore, and even before I was diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder, I wanted to help.

I was adopted at infancy into a wonderful family.

Then, in 1988 when I was almost 17, my mother committed suicide at the age of 47 after a long battle with heart disease and (I believe now) depression.

On January 17, 2000, my father died at the age of 63. His death certificate lists a heart attack as the cause of death but he was a long time closet alcoholic and had always suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I believe the cause of his death was related to alcoholism, and that he drank to self-medicate for the SAD.

Ironically, both of these wonderful, talented people were professional guidance counselors.

I write to you now as a 28 year old with bipolar disorder, who was diagnosed at the age of 23 after marriage and the birth of young children. As a child, teen and college student, I was bright, a good student, and considered a highly gifted writer with a limitless future.

Privately, I always knew something was wrong, but I did not know what it was until I was later diagnosed. After my diagnosis I experienced the stigma of mental illness and saw what the stigma had done to friends and loved ones.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts at office jobs, and the sudden death of my 63 year old father, the only parent of this only child, I decided to make an investment in my writing, and I now write on mental health advocacy for a number of websites, and I have written a book whose purpose is to erase the stigma of mental illness and move on to the purpose of helping those who live with mental disorders.

What follows are the URL to my page on Mental Illness in Families and Society on Suite 101 - called the Best of the Web by Brittanica.com, and the URL to my homepage, under construction, for my book, Elusive Butterfly.