Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance
May 5, 2024
News Media Collaborative

Mental health care access continues to be a problem in the state

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
by
jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave
We are part of The Trust Project
Sashay Schettler visits the North Dakota State Capitol on March 5, unaware that she’d be chosen to be the assistant director for the Office of Indian and Multicultural Education. Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame

BY VALLERY BROWN vbrown@opubco.com

The statistics are staggering.

Nearly half of all Americans will develop a mental illness during their lifetime, according to data from the National Comorbidity Survey.

More than a quarter of adults in the U.S. have a diagnosable mental health problem, but only about half seek treatment, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates about 22 percent of Oklahomans have some form of mental health issue.

Advocates say the heart of the problem is a fragmented system of care spanning the public and private market, spilling over into nonprofit or community care, and in many cases, the prison system.

“Mental disorders are more prevalent than heart disease, diabetes, stroke …

Read more on NewsOK.com


read more

Posted in News Media Collaborative
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Related Articles