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Data. Teamwork. Action. An Oklahoma approach to mental health policy.

Healthy Minds has partnered with the Sozosei Foundation to transform mental health care in Oklahoma. In early August, the foundation awarded a $300,000, two-year grant to Healthy Minds as a part of its Decriminalization of Mental Illness portfolio.

Mental health remained a unifying, bi-partisan issue during the 2022 Oklahoma legislative session. Legislators passed dozens of bills that address the increased demand for behavioral health services and expanded funding for the treatment and prevention of mental illness and substance use disorders.

Our data dashboard maps the prevalence of mental illness and substance use disorders in Oklahoma.

At Healthy Minds, we work to end untreated mental illness and addiction in Oklahoma through policy and practice transformation.

Latest Posts

Accessing Behavioral Health Providers Through Private Insurance in Oklahoma

We found that 2 million Oklahomans with commercial insurance face significant barriers to care.

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23.3 yrs

The life expectancy gap between Oklahomans in publicly funded mental health treatment and other Oklahomans.

The average life expectancy at birth in Oklahoma is 75.9 years, but clients of the state’s public mental health service system can expect to live an average of only 52.6 years.

Source: ODMHSAS “State Vital Statistics” and clients between 2004 and 2013

578,000

The number of Oklahoma adults experiencing mental illness.

That’s 1 in 5 Oklahoma adults, according to a 2020 prevalence estimate for Oklahomans with any mental illness.

SOURCE: Mental Health America, 2019

$193.2B

Annual lost earnings nationally by employers due to untreated mental illness.

Untreated mental illness can lead to loss of productivity, difficulty concentrating and changes in employee morale.

FIND OUT MORE: Mental Health is Business Health

6.5X

The rate Oklahomans on private insurance must go out of network to receive inpatient mental health care compared to other inpatient medical care.

Out-of-network care is more expensive, and can be a barrier to treatment. This disparity shows a lack of true parity between mental health care and other care.

SOURCE: Milliman Research Report, 2019

#50

Oklahoma has more adverse childhood experiences per person than any other state.

One in three Oklahoma children experiences two or more adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, before the age of 17.

Source: United Health Foundation, 2016

188

Number of teen suicide deaths in Oklahoma, 2011-17.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2017 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released December, 2018.