It’s no secret Oklahomans are facing a mental health crisis. The numbers don’t lie: According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 592,000 adults in Oklahoma have a mental health condition, yet more than a third of our citizens live in a community without enough mental health professionals to help them.
Our children are struggling, too: More than 58,000 Oklahomans ages 12-17 struggle with depression, and over 60% of them did not receive behavioral health care within the past year. High school students with depression are twice as likely to drop out of school than their peers. Developing minds were hit hard by the pandemic, with a recent Girl Scouts of the USA report indicating nearly 70% of girls ages 5-13 continue to experience loneliness, which can impact confidence levels as they grow up.
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The need for help is clear, and as CEO of Community Treatment Integrations Oklahoma (CTI-OK) — a nonprofit dedicated to providing mental health and substance use treatment to people of all ages, ethnicities and walks of life — I’ve witnessed firsthand that behavioral health and substance use disorder services can save lives.