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More than 20 percent of Oklahomans suffer from mental illness, an often misunderstood disease that can be debilitating but is treatable, experts say.
Many other social issues — including homelessness, jail overcrowding, substance abuse and addiction — can be linked to mental illness and a lack of access to treatment.
“I think we still have a general misunderstanding” of mental illness, said Terri White, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “... Mental illness and addiction does not discriminate based on age, race or socioeconomic status.”
Mental illness is sometimes perceived as weaknesses of character instead of brain-based biological diseases, White said.
Mike Brose, executive director of the Mental Health Association Oklahoma, said public understanding of mental illness lags greatly behind the science of research and treatment.
“That’s one of the biggest barriers to people reaching out for help,” he said. “Also, it’s a big barrier to funding.”
Treatment for mental illness includes therapy and medication, often in tandem.
“With treatment, people can and do recover,” White said.
Children who receive treatment are more likely to stay in school. Adults are more likely to have good attendance at work and hold down a job. But hundreds of thousands of people — 70 percent of those needing services in Oklahoma — don’t have access to that treatment, White said.
People who don’t get treatment for mental illness die about 25 years sooner than average, she said.
Mental health professionals often compare mental illnesses, which are diseases of the brain, to diabetes, a disease of the pancreas.
The symptoms of mental illness can be bizarre, like hearing voices or not being able to get out of bed, and many people don’t know the science behind the illnesses, White said.
Dr. Gerard Clancy, president of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa and former president of the college of medicine, said the sooner treatment starts, the more effective it is.
Many mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, start in the late teens, he said.
“If we find those and treat those illnesses earlier, the outcomes are much, much better,” he said.
Dr. Martin Paulus, scientific director and president of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, said brain imaging shows differences in the brain of a person with a disorder and the brain of a person who has no mental illness.
Chemicals function differently in the brain of a person with mental illness. Medication can help, and LIBR is currently doing research that may help predict what medicines work best for an individual, he said.
One of the next steps is working on preventing mental illness before it occurs, he said.
“That’s the direction that a large part of the research is going,” he said.
It’s difficult to say why Oklahoma has such high rates of mental illness, he said.
The stress of poverty and child abuse can certainly have an affect, he said.
“Those then translate later on in life to mental illness,” he said.
Brose said one way to identify mental illness early is to train school counselors to be more than academic advisers.
Their current role is necessary, but children also need somebody to help look out for their emotional well-being, he said.
Without training, it can be difficult for parents to know if their child has a problem.
“Sometimes it’s really hard for parents to tell what’s symptomatic and what may be just teenage angst,” he said.
One of the first places many people turn to when they suspect a mental health issue is their primary care doctor.
For this reason, more and more primary care offices are employing mental health professionals.
Often, however, people struggling with mental illness don’t know where to turn, he said.
“We’ve got a lot of really good resources here,” he said. “And a lot of times we just assume people know where to go. And they don’t.”
In some cases, a loved one’s mental illness may have reached a point where he or she does not believe treatment is needed. Those people sometimes believe the friends and family trying to help are conspiring against them.
“That’s what really is hard to get your mind around,” he said.
How to get help
911: For a crisis
211: A social-service hotline with operators able to take information and steer callers in the right direction based on each situation.
Suicide hotline: 800-522-9054, available 24 hours, seven days a week.
Mental Health Association Oklahoma: 918-585-1213 (Tulsa) and 405-943-3700 (Oklahoma City). Website is mhaok.org. Offers advocacy, housing programs and guidance based on the individual situation.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Oklahoma: 405-607-6018. Advocacy and support groups. namioklahoma.org
NAMI Tulsa, 918-587-6264 or NAMI-Tulsa@sbcglobal.net, namitulsa.org
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has 14 community mental health service centers statewide. These can be starting points for finding services for adults and children.
Four are located in the Tulsa and surrounding counties:
• Counseling and Recovery Services: 918-492-2554. Its main office is at 7010 S. Yale Ave. and also has a Sand Springs office at 401 E. Broadway Court. Website is crsok.org
• Family and Children's Services: To make an appointment and get information, call 918-587-9471. For a crisis, call the 24-hour hotline at 918-744-4800. Website is fcsok.org
• CREOKS: Has 17 clinics and nearly a dozen satellite areas in northeast Oklahoma serving over 170 communities. Call 877-327-3657 or go to its online service locator at creoks.org
• Grand Lake Mental Health Center: It has clinics in eight counties. Go to its website at glmhc.net to find numbers for clinics in Afton, Vinita, Grove, Pryor, Nowata, Miami, Claremore and Bartlesville
An online behavioral health services treatment locator can narrow down programs based on address: https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
Private insurance carriers usually have a contact number on the card to call to determine what providers are within the insurance network.
Shannon Muchmore has been a staff writer for the Tulsa World since 2007 and has covered topics such as higher education and social services. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in journalism. She is currently a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
