BOSTON -- After 25 years of playing leading roles in Hollywood, actress Glenn Close has taken on a new role: that of mental health advocate.

On Thursday in Boston, the award-winning actress, along with several members of her family, were honored with McLean Hospital's highest honor for their efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

It's her love of family that inspired Glenn Close to launch a national campaign, BringChange2mind.

Close's nephew, Calen, was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. And his mother, Jessie, Close's sister, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 47.

"I self-medicated a lot, which is very typical of mental illness," said Jessie Close.

"My family had no idea about mental illness, none at all. Jesse was just the wild one, that she better get it together, what's wrong with her. Never did we think it was an illness."

A startling public service announcement is the centerpiece of the campaign, featuring Close and her family. In the spot, people wear T-shirts displaying their diagnoses.

"For us, the whole reason to do it was to make it personal. And that's why it had to be family," said Close.

"It was scary standing there with my bipolar on my shirt," said Jessie.

"I was happy to do that, to out myself. It felt liberating, " said Calen Pick, Close's nephew.

"We had people coming up to us and thanking us for putting ourselves out there."

Both Calen and his mother were treated at McLean hospital in Belmont. They say the therapy and medication they received there has finally put their lives on track. Jesse is a writer. Her son is an artist.

"If you manage it and own it, you can live a very productive life," said Close.

What started as a sister and aunt's struggle to understand her family's struggles gave voice to an illness so often misunderstood, that affects so many.

"It's part of the human condition. So all of us are touched by it, it's part of being human. That's why we want to talk about," said Close.