The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) today launched a nationwide SMS/text message support option for the NAMI HelpLine, adding a communications medium that is overwhelmingly preferred by young people — a population experiencing an unprecedented mental health crisis.
Help-seekers can now text “HELPLINE” to 62640 between 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, Monday–Friday, to connect with the NAMI HelpLine. The free, peer-support service provides information, resource referrals and support to people living with a mental health condition, their family members and caregivers, mental health providers and the public.
“NAMI is dedicated to reaching people who need mental health support where they are, not where we want them to be,” said NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison Jr. “For our youth and young adults — who are bearing the brunt of an unprecedented mental health crisis — that place is often on their smartphones.”
In addition to the new texting option announced today, the NAMI HelpLine continues to be available Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, by phone at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), via the “Chat with us” web widget, or by email at helpline@nami.org.
The new text service is different from the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which offers both voice and text support to those experiencing a mental health or suicide-related crisis. The nationwide rollout of NAMI HelpLine texting feature follows a pilot project in Texas and New York.