Mended #20
Welcome to the reboot of Mended, the Substack featuring mental health and substance abuse news of interest to Oklahoma providers, policymakers, patients, mental health professionals, advocates, etc.
Tulsa Debut: The Outsiders
Things are rough all over. (From S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders)
This fall, Broadway’s 2024 Tony Award–winning Best Musical The Outsiders makes its Tulsa debut at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center from October 7–12, 2025. Set in 1967 Oklahoma, Ponyboy Curtis and his “greaser” friends grapple with class divides, identity, and the search for belonging, universal themes that resonate deeply with anyone who’s ever felt on the outside looking in.
For our mental-health community, The Outsiders offers more than a thrilling night of theater. Its exploration of friendship, family bonds, and the courage to stand up for yourself can spark conversations about resilience, peer support, and the power of storytelling in healing.
🌱 Gen Z ready to lead on youth mental health, and other health stories
A new report from the UNICEF-led Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health reveals a striking paradox: Gen Z is highly engaged with global news and issues, motivated by a strong sense of responsibility to shape a better future, yet this constant exposure is taking a significant toll on their mental health.
📱 More than half of top 100 mental health TikToks contain misinformation, study finds
More than half of all the top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation, a Guardian investigation has found.
🚶♂️ “My Dad Abandoned Me” TikToks Go Viral
Here are two links to raw, first‐person accounts of how father abandonment affects young people’s emotional well-being. This will help clinicians and policymakers move beyond statistics to the human realities behind the numbers.
My Dad Abandoned Me and Being Abandoned By Your Dad
✊🏿 Oklahoma tour shows firsthand that freedom isn’t a destination. It’s a perpetual climb.
The Greenwood Rising Center in Tulsa features a James Baldwin quote on its exterior: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
It’s built atop the site where one of the nation’s greatest Black surgeons had hunkered down during terrifying nights of violence, only to walk outside the following morning, his gifted hands raised, to be gunned down by a mob.
✨ Tulsa’s Juneteenth Website is Beautiful
Tulsa Juneteenth Inc., founded in 2013 by Tulsa advocates Vanessa Hall-Harper and Sherry Gamble Smith, is a nonprofit organization rooted in the celebration of African American freedom, culture, and Tulsa's community strength.
🏥 Hospital Leaders Call for Action to Protect Healthcare in Oklahoma
As the Senate prepares to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that would have devastating impacts on healthcare access in Oklahoma, hospital administrators will share how Medicaid cuts would impact their communities.
When: 12 p.m., Friday, June 27, 2025
Where: Virtual:
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86765139648?pwd=7IeV1mZ3MO0L9Q7BebMBqzKekznmD8.1
Webinar ID: 867 6513 9648
Passcode: 022980
🏛️ Governor Stitt names Retired Rear Admiral Gregory Slavonic as Interim Commissioner of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Earlier this month, Governor Stitt named Retired Rear Admiral Gregory Slavonic as Interim Commissioner of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
💼 Job Openings at Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
64 jobs at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health are posted including Chief Financial Officer.
🔄 Creek County’s collaborative approach transforms opioid crisis response
In Creek County, a $300,000 opioid abatement grant has sparked something unprecedented: five separate organizations working as one unified force to combat the county's devastating opioid crisis.
📉 Oklahoma Ranks Near the Bottom in New Commonwealth Fund Healthcare Report
A troubling new reality check has landed in the form of the Commonwealth Fund’s 2025 State Health System Performance Scorecard.
🧠 Mental health policy highlights of Oklahoma’s 2025 legislative session
Mental health was a central issue for much of the Oklahoma Legislature’s 2025 session, with months of concern over the state mental health department’s finances culminating in the unprecedented removal of the agency's commissioner.
🚨 Rising Oklahoma Cocaine Crisis: What the 2024 Drug Threat Assessment Reveals
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD) released its 2024 Drug Threat Assessment, a sobering 89-page report that paints a troubling picture
🚫 Drummond pushes for federal commitment to combat youth substance abuse
Attorney General Gentner Drummond joined a bipartisan coalition of 38 attorneys general calling on Congress to pass legislation that would directly impact Oklahoma youth vulnerable to substance abuse.
💪 Governor Stitt, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy Launch Make Oklahoma Healthy Again Campaign
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Thursday, June 26, for a full day of events in Oklahoma City. The visit marked the formal launch of Governor Stitt’s Make Oklahoma Healthy Again (MOHA) campaign, a state-level extension of the national Make America Healthy Again movement championed by President Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy.
🍬 Oklahoma seeks to exclude soda, candy from food stamp purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased with food stamps