Mrs. United States Spreads the Word About Breaking the Silence

Dr. Gariane Gunter, a a third-year psychiatry resident at the University of South Carolina, recently was crowned Mrs. United States and will dedicate her reign to raising public awareness about mental illness. Gunter is currently teaching NAMI's "Breaking the Silence" curriculum http://www.btslessonplans.org to all fifth grade classes at an elementary school in her hometown. The program is designed to educate students in upper elementary school, middle school and high school about mental illness.

"I am thrilled that Dr. Gunter was crowned Mrs. United States 2008," Nioka Campbell, M.D., the psychiatry residency training director at the University of South Carolina, told Psychiatric News. "I believe that she will provide a new face for psychiatry in the public, which in itself will combat the stigma that exists."