APA Fellow Aiming to Become First Psychiatrist Surgeon General

There were certainly a number of surprises, she admitted. “What you see on the Hill is not what you read about in civics class. You see the best coming out of people, but also the worst coming out of them, and that can be disappointing. I witnessed how cumbersome it could sometimes be to get something done and how vindictive some people could be in terms of the government shutdown last fall.”

Nor is Capitol Hill immune to mental health tragedies, she discovered. During the partial government shutdown, a woman who appeared to be psychotic was shot near the Capitol because “people were on high alert and very protective. She seemed like a threat, so she was killed. That was hard for me,” she said.

On a more positive note, Mattox was being courted with job offers even before her fellowship ended in January. “People wanted to fly from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., to meet with me and interview me for job opportunities—for instance, for the Division of Behavioral Health Services for the state of Arkansas. I was also encouraged to become medical director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission.”

She decided that she would continue as medical director of United Family Services in Little Rock—a position she held before her fellowship—but she has also been retained by the Arkansas Minority Health Commission as its medical media consultant. In that capacity, she will host a radio show, “Ask the Doctor,” be a television and radio spokesperson on minority health care disparities, and develop a statewide media campaign to reduce mental health stigma.

She had already had extensive experience in media education efforts, she explained. For example, while a psychiatry resident at the University of Arkansas, she worked on a bilingual statewide educational campaign to reduce stigma associated with depression during and after pregnancy.

She appeared in a television suicide-prevention ad. What she said in the ad was basically this: “My name is Rhonda Mattox. I am not an actor, but a psychiatrist. When my mother was pregnant with me, she had such a severe depression she attempted suicide. I am now devoting my life to helping others prevent the tragedy of suicide.” The ad stimulated a statewide dialogue about the effects of depression, she said.

While she was living in Los Angeles a few years ago, she collaborated with Hollywood, Health, and Services, a program at the University of Southern California that provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely health information for story lines. She worked with writers from “ER,” “90210,” and other popular television shows to help them depict mental illness accurately.

“The work I am most proud of was with the popular teen drama ‘90210,’ ” she said. “I worked with the writers and producers to create an educational and entertaining story line that spanned six episodes and that concerned a major character with bipolar disorder. I was thrilled when the writers and producers got a VOICE Award for the episode that aired on April 7, 2009, and was viewed by over 2 million people. The VOICE Awards recognize television and film writers and producers who have given a voice to people with behavioral health problems by incorporating dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of these individuals into their scripts, programs, and productions.”

When can we look forward to Mattox exerting even more public clout—that is, becoming the U.S. surgeon general? “Who knows? During the next five or 10 years,” she estimates.

Mattox strongly encourages her colleagues to apply for the fellowship. “It gives you an insider’s look at Capitol Hill,” she emphasized. “The relationships you make are invaluable for a number of reasons, and not just because of job opportunities. You meet people who are experts in other fields, and they bring a lot of depth and experience. The fellowship also helps you understand how to get things done on a policy level to advance patient health care,” she said.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to influence national policy for your patients.”