Today is National Stress Awareness Day.
Today is #NationalStressAwarenessDay. 😨 Oklahoma's nonprofit mental health providers can help you. 😊 Here are two links to explore: 1) https://allianceok.com/get-help-depression-mental-illness/ and 2) https://www.samhsa.gov/find-treatment. Also, here is the crisis hotline number: (800) 522-9054
📗 New Book About Kate Barnard, Oklahoma’s First Advocate for Mental Health and the Mentally Ill
“A Life on Fire, Oklahoma’s Kate Barnard” by author Connie Cronley is a biography of Kate Barnard (1875-1930) who is little-known today but was active and influential in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.”
Click here to continue reading the story in the Cherokee Phoenix.
Click here to find the book on Amazon.
A statue of Kate Barnard appears in the Oklahoma State Capitol.
💊 Stunning Testimony About Oklahoma’s “Methadone Clinics”
Interim Study 27 by Oklahoma Rep. Rick West featured a testimony from Mark McKenzie who lost his daughter Hannah to methadone overdose. Pat Hall, lobbyist with the Oklahoma State Medical Association also testified along with an agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and a pharmacist. Click here to listen to their stunning testimonies.
🌐 Limited Broadband Jeopardizes Mental Health by Joy Sloan, Green Country Behavioral Health Services
EXCERPT: “…being able to deliver clinical care through telehealth has proven hugely beneficial. As the need for crisis care has increased during the pandemic, we have seen that it is vital for people to have the immediate access telehealth provides.”
Click here to continue reading.
Oklahoma’s Mental Health Disparities, Struggles and Success
Click here to continue reading Whitney Bryan’s article on Oklahoma Watch.
🎖️ NEW! National Campaign to Reduce Veteran Suicide
Oklahoma County Jail Inmate Dies of Apparent Suicide
The detainee was involved in a fatality accident shortly before his apparent suicide. Click here to read the story.
😞 “Grant never got the mental health treatment he needed…”
John Grant killed Gay Carter in 1998. He was executed for his crime on November 1. Click here to read statements from his attorney about his mental health.
Oklahoma implements new mental health crisis transportation
On November 1, legislation that passed last spring granted the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) the ability to transport people experiencing a mental health emergency. This new law will allow for alternative transportation options, rather than with law enforcement officers.
Click here to continue reading the article on Oklahoma’s FOX23.