MILWAUKEE — Health care services to people with mental conditions and alcohol or drug problems need improvement, and a national committee has issued a report offering its recommendations.

The report from the Institute of Medicine was released Nov. 1, and among the 24 committee members to issue the report was Milwaukee’s Sr. Ann Catherine Veierstahler, a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida and a registered nurse.

Sr. Veierstahler was chosen to serve on the committee not only because of her experience as a registered nurse and a minister to people with mental disorders. She was appointed to the committee because of her personal bout with a bipolar disorder.

The story of her battle with mental illness was first reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2001. In the story she revealed that after a lifetime of mental anguish, she finally found peace thanks to medical intervention, medication, prayer and a healthy lifestyle.

“When I was correctly diagnosed, I got on the right medications and I was able to overcome my condition,” she said. “It’s still a day-to-day struggle.”

After the article was published, Sr. Veierstahler said she was flooded with letters from people who overcame their mental disorders. She decided to create a Web site, <www.hopetohealing.com>, that shares many of these stories.

In addition, Sr. Veierstahler began a support group for people with mental conditions. Today, eight faith-based support groups exist around Milwaukee, she said. This ministry resulted in another outreach effort on the Internet: <www.faithinrecovery.com>.

It was through Sr. Veierstahler’s public ministry that she was asked to serve on the Institute of Medicine’s committee, which worked more than a year to complete its report.

“We came together to look at the whole whole mental health care delivery system,” Sr. Veierstahler told the Catholic Herald. “We looked at such things as how the services were delivered, the work force, the stigma of having a mental illness. We came up with a number of recommendations. So our job really now is just starting to present these recommendations to the public.”

Known as the Committee on Crossing the Quality Chasm: Adaptation to Mental Health and Addictive Disorders, the group concluded that the United States will not have a quality health care system unless equal attention is given to mental health and substance abuse issues.

“Right now, mental health services are carved out of the general health care system and we are hoping that, for example, a medical doctor will be addressing the total person,” said Sr. Veierstahler. “We want to make sure the doctor does a thorough physical examination, but also asks some questions about depression ... and some of the other factors.”

One of the report’s objectives, said Sr. Veierstahler, is to address the stereotypes surrounding mental conditions. “In our report we addressed the stigma around these illnesses such as bipolar, depression, and severe anxiety disorders. They are illnesses like any other illnesses.”

According to Sr. Veierstahler, the most important message that the committee wants to herald is that mental conditions as well as drug and alcohol addictions, are treatable.

“We want people to know ... there is nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “Recovery is a most important word, and people do recover. It’s very important to know that.”