BUILDING FOR YEARS. WE HAD A CRISIS OF MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS BEFORE THE PANDEMIC AND IT KEPT GETTING WORSE. DEMAND FOR MENTAL HEALTH WOULD GO UP WITH EACH COVID SURGE. IT NEVER CAME BACK DOWN. NOW, COMMISSIONER BROOKE DOYLE AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH ARE ROLLING OUT A NEW WAY OF RESPONDING TO THIS CALL FOR HELP. THEY’RE TOOLS, A NUMBER YOU CAN CALL OR TEXT 24 OVER SEVEN FOR HELP. AND A NETWORK OF COMMUNITY BEHAVIOR HEALTH CENTERS. THANK YOU FOR CALLING IN. ADVOCATE DOYLE DESCRIBES THE CENTERS AS URGENT CARE FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, MEANING BOTH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE. AT ADVOCATES IN FRAMINGHAM, PEOPLE CAN PARTICIPATE IN INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP THERAPY, GET A PRESCRIPTION OR EVEN STAY FOR A FEW DAYS TO GET MORE INTENSIVE TREATMENT. YOU CAN LITERALLY GET YOUR NEEDS MET SAME DAY, NEXT DAY, WHILE PEOPLE CAN WALK INTO ONE OF THESE HEALTH CENTERS, THEY CAN ALSO CONNECT WITH THEM THROUGH THE STATE’S HELPLINE. DOYLE SAYS CLINICIANS ARE AVAILABLE AROUND THE CLOCK EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR TO SUPPORT CALLERS. SOMETIMES WE NEED HELP AT TWO IN THE MORNING OR ON SATURDAY. SO WHAT WE REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND IS THE HELPLINE WILL HELP YOU RIGHT NOW, THOSE HELPLINE OPTIONS CAN HAVE A NUMBER OF OUTCOMES. EVERYTHING FROM THE RECOMMENDATION OF A THERAPIST WHO TAKES YOUR INSURANCE TO THE DISPATCH OF A CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM. YOU COULD ALSO BE A PERSON EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND A CRISIS INTERVENTION RESPONDER CAN COME OUT TO WHEREVER YOU ARE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AT A SPECIFIC PLACE OR AT A SPECIFIC TIME. THE CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE 24 OVER SEVEN. YOU HAVE SHEPHERDED THE HELPLINE. IT’S JUST LAUNCHED. HOW IS IT DOING AND WHAT IS YOUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE? I AM SO HOPEFUL ABOUT WHERE THIS IS GOING TO TAKE US. OUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE ACCESS THE RIGHT LEVEL OF TREATMENT. AT AN EARLIER TIME. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT HELP IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW, MEETING YOUNG ADULTS WHERE THEY ARE IS THE STRATEGY FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BEEN SERVING THE COMMONWEALTH FOR DECADES. WE RECOGNIZE, OF COURSE, THAT YOUNG PEOPLE PREFER TEXTING AS THEIR WAY OF COMMUNICATING AND JUST AS IMPORTANT IS WHO IS ON THE OTHER END OF THAT TEXT CONVERSATION. IF A YOUNG PERSON DOESN’T WANT TO TEXT BECAUSE THEY ARE IMAGINING THAT THEY MIGHT BE REACHING SOMEONE WHO LOOKS MORE LIKE ME, THEN THEIR PEERS, THEN THEY MAY NOT DO IT. HEY, SAM IS A TEXT SERVICE RUN BY SAMARITAN, AN ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO SUICIDE PREVENTION. THE SERVICE CONNECTS TEENAGERS AND YOUNG ADULTS WITH PEER VOLUNTEERS TO TALK ABOUT THE TOUGH PARTS OF LIFE. MAYBE THEY’RE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND GETTING READY TO GO TO COLLEGE. WHAT THE TRANSITION IS GOING TO BE LIKE. I ALSO HAVE PEOPLE CONTACT ABOUT THEIR FIRST RELATIONSHIPS, LIKE SOME HEARTBREAK. MAYBE THEY GOT IN A FIGHT WITH THEIR PARENTS AND THEY’RE JUST LIKE FEELING REALLY UPSET. AFTER THAT, I CAN OFFER THEM SOME SUPPORT NEAR THEIR SIDE. BROOKLYN MCDERMOTT HIGHLAND VOLUNTEER WITH SAMARITANS. SHE GOT INVOLVED AFTER THE GROUP SPOKE AT HER HIGH SCHOOL. THE 20 YEAR OLD ANSWERS TEXTS SENT TO HEY, SAM, IT’S JUST LIKE IT’S A LOT DIFFERENT NOW AND OLDER VOLUNTEERS MAY NOT LIKE TRULY ARE ABLE TO RELATE TO THAT. SO I’M ABLE TO RELATE TO THAT A LOT. SAMARITANS HAS BEEN DOING THIS KIND OF WORK FOR FIVE DECADES, FIRST WITH THEIR 24 OVER SEVEN PHONE LINE AND THEN WITH TEXT CAPABILITY. HEY, SAM LAUNCHED IN SPRING OF 2022 SAMARITANS CEO AND PRESIDENT KATHY MARKEY SAYS NO MATTER THE FORMAT, EVERY CONVERSATION IS GUIDED BY THE SAME PHILOSOPHY. IT’S THE IDEA THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE JUST NEED SOMEONE TO LISTEN TO THEM. OFTENTIMES, WE AS FRIENDS AND FAMILY WANT TO HELP SOMEONE SOLVE A PROBLEM. SO SOMEONE SAYS, I’M REALLY STRUGGLING WITH THIS. AND OUR RESPONSE TO THAT IS, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU COULD DO OR YOU KNOW WHAT MIGHT HELP. AND REALLY WHAT WE NEED IS INDIVIDUALS IS TO JUST HAVE SOMEONE SAY, YEAH, I GET THAT. BOTH MARKEY AND MCDERMOTT HIGHLAND SAY THERE ARE ADVANTAGES TO HAVING THESE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS OVER TEXT. I HEAR PEOPLE LIKE I’M BETWEEN CLASSES RIGHT NOW. I JUST REALLY NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT THIS THING THAT JUST HAPPENED. SO IT’S JUST VERY EASY JUST TO SEND A TEXT RIGHT IT OUT. SOMETIMES CALLING CAN BE VERY INTIMIDATING. VOLUNTEER YEAR HELD MORE THAN 1400 CONVERSATIONS ON. HEY SAM IN ITS FIRST YEAR OFTEN THE CONNECTION WITH US IS WHAT PEOPLE FEEL THEY NEED AND WHEN THEY’RE DONE WITH THE TEXT OR THE CALL. WHAT WE HEAR VERY OFTEN IS IT WAS SO HELPFUL TO JUST BE HEARD AND TO HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO REACH OUT AND GET HELP. THEY SAY, I DON’T HAVE ANYONE IN MY LIFE I CAN TELL THIS TO AND I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO ME. BROOKLYN AND BEING THERE FOR ME. IT’S JUST THERE’S NOTHING LIKE IT. I CAN’T COMPARE IT TO ANYTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE. IS THE MOST REWARDING THING I CAN THINK OF. WHAT A GREAT PROGRAM. AND AT THIS TIME, SAMARITANS HAS. HEY SAM, VOLUNTEERS FROM 9 A.M. TO MIDNIGHT. BUT EVEN IF A PEER VOLUNTEERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON. HEY, SAM, ANYONE REACHING OUT TO HEY, SAM, AT ANY TIME OF DAY, WE’LL GO DIRECTLY TO A SAMARITANS VOLUNTEER. IT IS A GREAT PROGRAM. ALL RIGHT. STILL AHEAD, A LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE NOW.

New sources accessible for psychological well being help

Massachusetts Division of Psychological Well being, Samaritans supply new choices to get assist

Up to date: 8:20 PM EDT Jun 16, 2023

If you’re struggling together with your psychological well being, or have a beloved one who wants assist, you will get related with sources via the Massachusetts Division of Psychological Well being’s 24/7 helpline. Name or textual content 833-773-2445 or entry their on-line chat right here.If it’s good to discuss suicide, you possibly can name or textual content 988 from wherever within the nation to be related to the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline.The Massachusetts Division of Psychological Well being has launched a brand new approach of responding to an elevated want for assist with psychological well being entry. The instruments embrace a 24/7 cellphone helpline and a community of group behavioral assist facilities. Commissioner Brooke Doyle described the group behavioral assist facilities as pressing look after psychological well being and substance use wants.The helpline will be accessed via a web based chat or by calling or texting 833-773-2445. It’s free and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, year-round. Callers shall be related with a clinician who can information them to the help they want.Lengthy-time suicide prevention group Samaritans is providing a devoted service to achieve younger adults who’re scuffling with their psychological well being. Hey Sam is a textual content service that connects teenagers and younger adults with peer volunteers to speak concerning the robust components of life. Folks can textual content 439-726 any time of the day to get help. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., teenage and younger grownup volunteers are on standby to help their friends.Sophie, a pupil at Simmons College, shares her psychological well being struggles and works to destigmatize searching for assist.Boston Youngsters’s Hospital Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences works to assist kids and households create and obtain a wholesome improvement and way of life. This system has a mission of offering excellence and innovation in care, training, analysis, and advocacy for psychological well being inside households.Sophie Nystuen is the founding father of Breathe, a useful resource designed to assist individuals heal and transfer on from traumatic and life altering occasions. Customers can write their ideas in any kind they like, whether or not it could be a poem, an essay, or perhaps a easy assertion. The positioning maintains customers’ anonymity and provides the selection of publishing tales with or with out a title connected.

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

If you’re struggling together with your psychological well being, or have a beloved one who wants assist, you will get related with sources via the Massachusetts Division of Psychological Well being’s 24/7 helpline. Name or textual content 833-773-2445 or entry their on-line chat right here.

If it’s good to discuss suicide, you possibly can name or textual content 988 from wherever within the nation to be related to the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline.

The Massachusetts Division of Psychological Well being has launched a brand new approach of responding to an elevated want for assist with psychological well being entry. The instruments embrace a 24/7 cellphone helpline and a community of group behavioral assist facilities. Commissioner Brooke Doyle described the group behavioral assist facilities as pressing look after psychological well being and substance use wants.

The helpline will be accessed via a web based chat or by calling or texting 833-773-2445. It’s free and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, year-round. Callers shall be related with a clinician who can information them to the help they want.

Lengthy-time suicide prevention group Samaritans is providing a devoted service to achieve younger adults who’re scuffling with their psychological well being. Hey Sam is a textual content service that connects teenagers and younger adults with peer volunteers to speak concerning the robust components of life. Folks can textual content 439-726 any time of the day to get help. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., teenage and younger grownup volunteers are on standby to help their friends.

Sophie, a pupil at Simmons College, shares her psychological well being struggles and works to destigmatize searching for assist.

Boston Youngsters’s Hospital Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences works to assist kids and households create and obtain a wholesome improvement and way of life. This system has a mission of offering excellence and innovation in care, training, analysis, and advocacy for psychological well being inside households.

Sophie Nystuen is the founding father of Breathe, a useful resource designed to assist individuals heal and transfer on from traumatic and life altering occasions. Customers can write their ideas in any kind they like, whether or not it could be a poem, an essay, or perhaps a easy assertion. The positioning maintains customers’ anonymity and provides the selection of publishing tales with or with out a title connected.