Dispelling the advocacy myths

I WON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Every voice makes a difference. Look at the last two Presidential elections. The decision came down to a few votes in a few states. Your opinion matters, but it only does good if you make it known. The assumption that your voice won’t make a difference is what makes bad public policy possible. It often takes as little as 5 letters or phone calls to get a legislators attention.

SOMEONE ELSE WILL DO IT
It is probably true that someone else will contact your legislator, but how do you know they are working for the same cause. There are many groups trying to get their voice heard. If they are talking and you are silent how will anyone know the patient’s point of view?

With your silence you are just making your opponents voice even louder.

Absolutely no one is going to advocate for our illnesses -- except us. And in many cases others may be fighting against us.

There are millions of Americans with depression and bipolar disorder. Think how easy it would be to change things if they each took only 5 minutes out of their day to make that phone call, write that letter – to take action.

NOTHING EVER CHANGES
How often have you heard this? Sometimes, it seems like glaciers move faster than the legislative process. Legislation can get derailed for a number of reasons. Let’s look at the numbers.

During the 108th session of Congress in 2003, 3,700 bills were introduced in the House of Rep and 2,004 in the Senate. And legislative change happens slowly. This system is engineered this way on purpose. If laws were easy to change – then with every swing of public opinion – the change of law would swiftly effect citizens.

IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME

I have to walk the dog. I have to clean out the garage. I have to take out the garbage. I don’t have time – I’m just too busy.


These are just some of the many excuses we have all used to justify not being involved with advocacy. DBSA has made it even easier to get involved with our Legislative Action Center. By visiting DBSA’s Legislative Action Center and using the Capwiz system, you can immediately contact your legislators with the click of your mouse. When you click on the “Alerts” on the center’s homepage and by entering your zip code – the system will pull up your legislator’s information and email. You’ll then find a sample letter regarding the issue listed in the alert, such as Mental Health Parity. You can send the letter “as is” or edit and/or compose you own message and send immediately.
Capwiz will also give you the most up-to-date information on your legislators such as contact info, how they voted on previous legislation, committees served on, campaign funds and information on federal legislation.

It’s all there for you – it will take as little as 5 minutes. No more excuses.

I DON’T KNOW ENOUGH
You don’t have to know all the details of a bill – a legislator doesn’t expect that – that’s only expected if you’re a lobbyist. All you need to know is – please support Bill 4860 or please support Mental Health Parity. All you have to know is why the bill is important.

And I’ll tell you that members of Congress put a high value on input from the people the represent – this first-hand information is trusted much more highly than the arguments and claims of lobbyists. If you would like to educate yourself more on legislation that affects you please visit the Legislative Process and DBSA Legislation pages.