Rosalynn Carter

When I announced my focus on mental health as first lady of Georgia in 1971, none but five mental health advocates in the state wanted to be involved with the issue.

We know how to treat depression, we know how to treat mental illness, and we have not had the political will in our country to make it happen.

I love San Francisco. I have a lot of memories there.

When I was first lady, I worked to call attention to the plight of refugees fleeing Cambodia for Thailand, I visited Thailand and witnessed firsthand the trauma of parents and children separated by circumstance beyond their control.

I was very nervous about giving speeches for a long time.

When you travel and when you campaign, people tell you their problems. You see the problems and you become aware of them and you talk about them every day. And so you feel the responsibility for doing something about them.

You can make the First Lady's job whatever you want it to be. To some women the job is more involved with the entertaining. They feel at home doing the things at home.

I've never had time for friends. I've always worked too hard.

I hope I've contributed something to the mental health field. But I hope people will think - I've had so many wonderful opportunities, I tried to take advantage of them.

It's been taboo for so long to admit you had a mental health problem.

I've watched my family grow, I've traveled around the world and I've had a chance to contribute some, I think.

You can have a full life after 50.

If you look at suicides, most of them are connected to depression. And the mental health system just fails them. It's so sad. We know what to do. We just don't do it.

Early diagnosis is so important because the earlier a mental illness can be detected, diagnosed and treatment can begin, the better off that person can be for the rest of his or her life.

I have learned that you can do anything you want to. They used to ask me if I thought the first lady ought to be paid. If you get paid, then I have to do what first lady is supposed to do. But you can do anything you want to, and it's such a great soap box.

Many politicians, celebrities, businessmen and women, and community leaders now are open about their struggles with mental illnesses, something almost unheard of when I began. Together, we are spreading the word that mental health affects all of us and deserves our support and attention.

Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it.

For Jimmy and me, Iowa holds a special place in our hearts. During his presidential campaign I spent over 100 days in Iowa. I visited 105 communities and knocked on more doors and met more Iowans than anyone thought possible.

My mother made all of our clothes, my friends' mothers made all of their clothes. This was the Depression.

Aside from doing everything possible to provide programs for people who are seriously ill, I want to do everything humanly possible to help create a more caring society so that we can begin to counter the painful loneliness and sense of helplessness which has engulfed too many of our people.