5 takeaways about Oklahoma mental health challenges and solutions

Mental health is at the heart of some of Oklahoma’s most pressing social issues. It causes trends in homelessness, incarceration and systemic instability – yet access to care remains the main challenge for those in the thick of it.

That’s the focus of Snapshot: Mental Health, a collaborative journalism project examining the state of mental health in Tulsa and around the country. Tulsa Flyer, The Oklahoma Eagle, The Frontier, KOSU, La Semana and Focus: Black Oklahoma contributed reporting to the project.

The collaboration culminated with a public forum Monday night hosted by the Tulsa Flyer and The Oklahoma Eagle, discussing solutions to improve access to mental health.

If you can’t make it to Monday’s discussion at 101 E. Archer St.

Stigma prevents Black adults from seeking treatment in Oklahoma

Through his report, Ismael Lele, a business reporter at The Oklahoma Eagle, found that only 30% of Black adults in Oklahoma who experience mental health conditions have sought treatment.

“I think a lot of hesitancy really comes from the history of medical racism and mistrust in the Black community,” said Lele.

Additionally, Catfish’s report found only 2% of the country’s 41,000 psychiatrists are Black. But some professionals hope to change that, forming the Tulsa Black Mental Health Alliance to open new avenues for treatment.

The majority of inmates at the Tulsa Municipal Jail struggle with mental illness

Garrett Yalch, a reporter at The Frontier who covers corporate and government responsibility issues, said a former corrections officer at the Tulsa city jail estimates 70% of inmates suffer from serious mental illness.

“That’s a lot of people who are homeless. Tulsa police are called out for businesses and QuikTrips or who are causing a disturbance in the community,” Yalch said. “It’s a population that struggles with mental illness that is afflicted there.”

The Frontier recently published an investigation by Yalch and colleague Ari Fife that revealed at least seven people have died in the Tulsa Municipal Jail over the past three years.

Anosognosia is a ‘huge barrier’ to people getting help

Michael Brose, a consultant for the Tulsa Day Center’s Blue Team, said anosognosia — a neurological disorder that prevents people from recognizing other conditions they have — prevents people with mental illnesses from seeking treatment.

Brose previously served as Mental Health Association of Oklahoma CEO for 27 years.

“We used to see this as a symptom of schizophrenia, schizoaffective bipolar disorder, where damage is actually done to the frontal and right cerebral cortex,” Brose said. “What’s in that part of the brain? Insight. So, they don’t have insight into the fact that they have a mental illness.”

38% of people incarcerated in Oklahoma have a serious mental illness

Zack Stoycoff, president and CEO of the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, said 38% of people in Oklahoma Department of Corrections have a serious mental illness, while only 5.6% of Oklahomans have a serious mental illness.

“We’re arresting people with these problems, these medical problems, instead of treating them, and that’s a major problem with cost-effectiveness and human rights,” Stoycoff said.

He pointed to the need for policy solutions. Oklahoma City and Tulsa have both taken steps to address the problem, but the situation needs to step up, Stoycoff said.

Schools and mental health providers must work together

Christine Marsh, executive vice president of child abuse and trauma services at Tulsa’s Family & Children’s Services, said families often can’t take their children to therapy appointments during the school year.

“We want kids to be able to be where they need to be in school as well. The problem is that we need families in therapy appointments as well…” Marsh said. “If we don’t allow children to be treated with their families, then they’re not going to get better, and not everyone can have everything addressed in a setting like school.”

Marsh said parents are often pressured to make sure their kids miss as little class time as possible, but that results in kids missing appointments and missing out on care.

Disclosure: Primary support for the Snapshot: Mental Health series was provided by the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative. News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy Here.

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