State of Mind: Meet our experts

"CBS Evening News" turned to leading experts in medicine and government for their perspectives on the mental health issues of the day.

• Rep. Tim Murphy -- Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pennsylvania, introduced legislation aimed at fixing the nation's mental health care system. The bill was rolled into the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in 2016. Murphy also holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a practicing psychologist. 
  

• Fmr. Rep. Patrick Kennedy -- Patrick Kennedy, a former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, was a lead sponsor for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which requires insurance companies to cover mental and physical illnesses equally. Since leaving office in 2011, Kennedy has written a book on his personal journey with mental illness and has become an advocate on the issue. He has also founded two non-profits.
  

• Ron Powers -- Best-selling author and journalist Ron Powers wrote the new book "No One Cares About Crazy People," a history of mental health in America. The book also details Powers' personal experience with the issue; his two sons have schizophrenia.
  

• Dr. Glenda Wrenn -- Dr. Glenda Wrenn is the director of behavioral health for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute. She's a psychiatrist and an expert in health policy and behavioral health.
  

• Dr. Ralph Aquila -- Dr. Ralph Aquila is a psychiatrist in New York City who has treated people with serious mental illnesses for years with a non-profit called Fountain House. Fountain House aims to improve the lives of people with mental illness by offering community mental health programs and advocacy, among other things.
  

• Dr. David Shuklin -- Dr. David Shulkin is the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by President Donald Trump. He is also a board-certified internist and previously ran hospital systems.

• Dr. Barbara Rothbaum -- Dr. Barbara Rothbaum is the director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Emory University School of Medicine. She is also a clinical psychologist specializing in PTSD.

• Dr. Kevin Nadal -- Kevin Nadal is a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is also president of the Asian American Psychological Association. 

• Thomas Michelena -- Thomas Michelena is a social worker at a hospital in New York City.  
  

• Susan Herman -- Susan Herman is the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for collaborative policing. Herman was instrumental in crafting the NYPD's Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), which trains officers to better handle encounters with potentially emotionally disturbed individuals. Over 5,000 of the department's officers have gone through CIT training.

• Kristy Loewenstein -- Kristy Loewenstein is the director of nursing education at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, New York, an in-patient psychiatric hospital. Loewenstein helps train the hospital's clinical and support staff to better handle and de-escalate situations with emotionally disturbed patients. She is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.