Jason Cornelius and Savannah Pierson of Red Rock Behavioral Health visited Kiwanis Tuesday and spoke about mental health and wellbeing in Oklahoma. Cornelius, Director of Outpatient Services, and Pierson, Regional Program Director, also told Kiwanians of a new mental health crisis hotline going into effect July 2.
Red Rock Behavioral Health Services is a nonprofit community mental health organization that provides a variety of programs for all people groups—adults, children, veterans, and those without insurance. Red Rock also has integrated behavioral health and physical health care coordination services to better provide for the needs of community members. “We have served 17,500 clients in the last year,” Cornelius said.
Red Rock also has an access center taking phone calls, and last year alone Red Rock received 145,000 calls from Oklahomans in need of help. “We took 3,314 crisis calls last year,” Cornelius said. “Those are people who are in a crisis situation saying they are suicidal or homicidal, saying they need help.”
Cornelius explained that the COVID-19 pandemic severely worsened the mental health of the state. “Since COVID-19, our crisis calls have doubled. People are hurting.”
Due to the worsening mental health of the nation, in October of 2020, President Trump signed into law that 9-8-8 serve as a universal number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention. This number will now be active beginning this Saturday, July 2.
“The need for 9-8-8 and a continuum of crisis services is greater than ever. In August (of 2020) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that more than one in ten adults in the U.S. had seriously considered suicide in the thirty days prior to the survey and four in ten adults experienced a behavioral health condition, like anxiety or depression,” the National Alliance on Mental Illness has posted on their website.
Cornelius worked for many years as a certified therapist, and he ended his presentation by emphasizing the importance of overcoming stigmas surrounding mental health. “It’s okay to not be okay,” he said.