Obama administration to launch mental health dialogue

The Obama administration is planning a national campaign to encourage the discussion of mental health issues in light of recent mass shootings.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will lead the effort, which will begin within weeks, Sebelius said Tuesday.

"There is no question that the recent tragedy in Newtown broke the hearts of the nation," Sebelius told a medical conference in Washington, D.C. "But it also gives us an opportunity to address some important issues that have gone unaddressed for too long." 

The administration called for the dialogue in its January recommendations on preventing gun violence. Four of President Obama's 23 executive actions on the issue addressed mental health. 

"We know there is no single solution to the problem of gun violence," Sebelius said. "But physicians should be able to talk to their patients about guns and gun safety. We can also agree that we need to talk as a society about mental illness."

The debate began after a shooter opened fire in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012, killing 26 and then himself.

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