On this Presidents Day, we wanted to share some quotes from US Presidents on grief and mental health.
"...when you have serious loss, people go up and say, 'I know how you feel.' And you know they mean well. But after a while, especially if you’re well known, you feel like saying, 'You have no damn idea how I feel.' You know they mean well."
-President Joe Biden
2021; at the Memorial of Former Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner
"Americans with mental illness deserve our understanding, and they deserve excellent care. They deserve a health care system that treats their illness with the same urgency as a physical illness."
-Former President George W. Bush
2002; remarks on insurance parity
"[S]truggling with a mental illness or caring for someone who does can be isolating. And I think everybody here who’s experienced the issue in one way or another understands that. It begins to feel as if not only are you alone, but that you shouldn’t burden others with the challenge and the darkness, day in, day out -- what some call a cloud that you just can't seem to escape -- begins to close in."
-Former President Barack Obama
2013; at the National Conference on Mental Health