Foundation History – Why It Was Created?

Mara Paisley, who lived with Carrie Fisher at her house when she was newly sober, created the foundation. Carrie saved Mara’s life when she was suicidal, barely holding on to her sobriety. Carrie was Mara’s guardian angel. When Carrie died on Mara’s birthday, she knew she had to carry on Carrie’s mission of advocating for mental health AND addiction, as both Carrie and Mara are dual diagnoses.

There are mental health and recovery organizations, but none address both. Oftentimes, recovery, which is under mental health, is forgotten about when talking about mental illness. Friends of Carrie Fisher Foundation will bridge that gap between two very large communities.

The Need for the Foundation

• Nearly 1 in 5 Americans suffers From mental Illness each year.

• There are 43.6 million American adults living with a psychiatric illness and 16.3 million who have an alcohol use disorder.

• In 1999, the U.S. Surgeon General labeled stigma as perhaps the biggest barrier to mental health care; this stigma manifests particularly in a phenomenon known as social distancing, whereby people with mental issues are more isolated from others.  Eradicating the stigma and social distancing of people with mental illness must be a top public health priority in order to improve worldwide mental health and reduce economic burden.

• The current opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history.  Overdoses, fueled by opioids, are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 years old, killing roughly 64,000 people last year, more than guns or car accidents, and doing so at a pace faster than the H.I.V. epidemic at its peak.

• Only 1 in 10 people who need treatment for substance use disorder are getting it – a ratio that would be unfathomable for conditions such as diabetes or kidney cancer.

• While some addicts say they cannot find treatment or afford it, a fifth of those who were not seeking help feared negative opinions from their community, according to a frequently cited survey from 2014. They fear they will be blamed for their problems, kicked out of their homes or fired from their jobs, public health specialists said.

(Stats and research provided by Newsweek, NY Times, Psychology Today, CDC, Washington Times)