Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ?
Autism, Mental Health, Advocacy & Human Stories. Embracing Autism/Mental Health Worldwide. Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition affecting millions worldwide, characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. Despite increasing recognition, there remains a lack of understanding and awareness about the condition. Mental health encompasses a range of conditions impacting emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting millions globally. It includes disorders like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and psychosis. Schizophrenia is marked by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking, while psychosis involves a loss of contact with reality, often presenting with similar symptoms. Despite growing awareness, stigma and misconceptions about mental health, particularly schizophrenia and psychosis, persist, underscoring the need for greater understanding and support. From celebrating neurodiversity to breaking down stigma, we create a safe space for listeners to learn, grow, and feel seen. Whether you're on the spectrum, a caregiver, or an advocate, join our global community for inspiring conversations and empowering resources that uplift and unite. Tune in to embrace understanding, healing, and hope worldwide! Together, we can create a more informed and compassionate society for individuals with Autism and Mental Illness.
Episodes
Show Notes
What happens when the systems designed to help people with serious mental illness become the very barriers preventing care?
In Part 2 of this important conversation, Tony Mantor welcomes Dr. Aaron Meyer and Anne Marie Council for a candid discussion about the failures and possibilities within America's mental health system. Together, they explore why so many individuals spend years cycling through emergency...
In this important episode of Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide, Tony Mantor sits down with Dr. Alan Meyer, psychiatrist and Behavioral Health Officer for the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, and Ann Marie Council, retired Senior Deputy City Attorney and mental health policy advisor, for an in-depth discussion about the challenges facing today's mental health system.
Together, the...
We talk with John Rolls about the Gremlin Club’s Sunday open mic in Camarthen and how it grows from a rehearsal night into a welcoming community where people leave their troubles at the door.
We dig into what real inclusion looks like for autism, mental health, and disability when the room treats everyone as equal and still makes space for what people need.
• how the Gremlin Club open mic starts ...
We sit with author Jerri Clark as he explains how severe mental illness can create a “gone but not gone” grief that families carry in silence.
We talk about ambiguous loss, why closure often never comes, and how to keep living with love and meaning even when the outcome is out of our control.
• Jerri’s story of losing his son through psychosis, system failures, and suicide
We sit down with former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy to get specific about what a real national mental health strategy looks like and why the current system wastes money while people end up isolated, hospitalized, incarcerated, or living on the streets.
We dig into integrated care, schools-based prevention, telehealth, and the rising risks of AI so listeners walk away with practical policy ideas and a cl...
We talk with former U.S. representative Patrick Kennedy about why mental health parity still fails in practice and what it takes to make insurers and employers cover care that actually works.
We keep coming back to one idea: real change happens when we build power and design a system that rewards early help, long-term outcomes, and community support.
• Barriers to full enforcement of the Mental Health ...
We sit down with Colorado State Senator Judy Amabile to connect one family’s painful path through serious mental illness to the laws that decide whether people get treatment or get pushed into homelessness and the courts.
We talk honestly about psychosis, stigma, and the hard policy choices behind civil commitment, Medicaid rules, and building enough beds to stop the cycle.
• Her son’s schizoaffe...
We sit down with Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds to talk about how personal loss turns into a long-term push for mental health reform that actually survives the news cycle.
We focus on what legislation can change, what funding really buys, and why the mental health workforce crisis is the wall every good idea hits.
• his path from rural public service to mental health advocacy after his son’s...
We sit down with former Maine State Senator John Nutting to talk about why serious mental illness belongs in the medical system, not the jail system, and how court ordered treatment can keep people alive and communities safer. We walk through Maine’s Progressive Treatment Plan, the fight to fund and implement it, and what families can do to push for mental health legislation that actually works.
• Joh...
We talk with Iowa State Representative Ann Meyer about how mental health legislation gets built and why access to care still fails families in crisis.
We dig into provider shortages, the fight for mandatory follow-up after commitment, and how constituents can move lawmakers with personal stories and local relationships.
• her path from nursing to the Iowa House and why constituent stories changed her f...
We sit down with Connecticut State Senator Christine Cohen and advocate Denise Paley to unpack how mental health legislation gets built, watered down, and sometimes rescued through strategy and coalition work.
We focus on crisis intervention training, prison mental health care, and the hard questions around rights, re-entry, and what real accountability looks like.
• Senator Cohen’s personal path...
We sit down with Massachusetts Senator Cindy Friedman to talk about how mental health laws change real access to care, and why families still hit walls even when “parity” exists. We dig into AOT, crisis diversion, insurance limits, and the practical fixes that keep people out of ERs and jails.
• her personal path into serious mental illness advocacy and why systems matter
• what changed...
We talk with Washington State Senator Manka Dhingra about why mental health care so often lands in the justice system and what it takes to change that through smart legislation and real implementation.
We dig into funding, workforce, 988 crisis response, diversion programs, and how communities can push practical mental health reform that actually reaches people.
• her path from prosecutor work to m...
We sit down with former Congressman and psychologist Tim Murphy to show how mental health laws really get made and why “good ideas” often get changed or stripped before they ever help families.
We dig into Medicaid rules, treatment access, psychosis risks, and the hard truth that silence is how broken systems stay in place.
• the real path of a bill from idea to compromise to final vote&nbs...
We bring together seven voices to face the hardest question families live with: when severe mental illness and psychosis take over, what does “choice” really mean. We share what it looks like when schools, hospitals, and law enforcement treat brain illness like behavior, and we lay out concrete steps that can shorten the gap to real care.
• capacity and consent when someone refuses help during psychos...
We sit with seven voices to name what happens when psychosis and serious mental illness are misunderstood, under-treated, and pushed into jails, courts, and the streets. We challenge the quiet standard of neglect and outline what it takes to turn awareness into policy, funding, and care that actually saves lives.
• failures in jail-based competency restoration and medication continuity
• why an...
We bring together seven voices to talk honestly about serious mental illness and why families are pushed to wait for crisis before help is allowed. We challenge outdated laws, uneven state systems, and stigma while naming practical fixes that can make outpatient care real and measurable.
• mental health codes built for inpatient care in an outpatient world
• step-up assisted outpatient treatment an...
Dr. Rachel Moseley on Autistic Suicide Prevention, Masking, Misdiagnosis, and Autistic Menopause
Host Tony Mantor in Nashville welcomes returning guest Dr. Rachel Mosley to discuss her UK-based research on autistic suicidality, self-injury, masking/burnout, misdiagnosis, and menopause.
Mosley explains that changes in autistic suicide rates are hard to track due to delayed and incomplete reporting, and cites ...
Transforming Trauma into Purpose: John King's Journey on Why Not Me
In this episode of Why Not Me, embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide, host Tony Mantor interviews John King, a trauma recovery advocate, author, speaker, and survivor.
John shares his compelling journey from being trafficked and abused as a child to becoming a prominent advocate for trauma recovery, neurodiversity, and anti-human traf...
Steph West on Building Starfish Social Club: Social Skills, Neurodivergent Friendship, and Helpful Social Feedback
Host Tony Mantor in Nashville introduces “Why Not Me: Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide” and interviews Steph West, founder and director of Starfish Social Club in San Antonio, Texas, which runs small-group social skills programs for neurodivergent kids and teens (autism, ADHD...
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