NAMI HelpLine Learnings: How to Handle Mental Health Emergencies

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has so many resources & I wanted to highlight those most relevant and necessary to every American.

A NAMI HelpLine specialist is a volunteer position. Once a week for the past 6 months I spent 4 hours taking calls and navigating people to mental health resources. Think of it as the mental health yellow pages.

I’ll make this short.

Every American should be prepared for a mental health emergency. These are the 3 steps.

1. Call 988
2. Call your local MCU
3. Call your local CIT
4. Call 911

Instructions below. But first, let’s define a mental health emergency. It can include risk to your life, for example, suicidal thoughts. It can include risk to others’, for example, someone in psychosis threatening others with a weapon. A mental health emergency can also include panic attacks. For the outside observer it may not look like an emergency, but to the person experiencing it, the body goes into the same fight or flight response that other emergencies trigger. In fact, some panic attacks land people in the hospital, as they’re confused with heart attacks or strokes.

988

This is basically 911, but for mental health emergencies. It just rolled out this year, and may not be sufficiently funded in your state. If you’re waiting on the line, move on to the next step.

Mobile Crisis Unit (MCU)

Pull out your phone or switch tabs right now. This is easy. Google, “mobile crisis unit near me.” Go to the top results and save those numbers in your phone contacts. In the notes of each contact, include their hours of operation. Not all MCUs are 24/7. In fact, your town may not have any MCUs. If that’s not an option, go to the next step.

911-Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

Get to know your local police officers and swing by the station one day. (I encourage everyone to do this generally, not just for mental health emergency prep.) Ask for the names of officers on the crisis intervention team (CIT). They have special training. Save their contacts in your phone. (Some officers will even give you their personal numbers to call.) If you’ve tried 988 and MCUs, then call 911 and specifically request those officers.

Just 911

Finally, if those officers aren’t available or your local police doesn’t have a CIT, then just make sure to explain that it’s a mental health emergency.

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Did you save the number of a local MCU to your contacts? Great. Share that contact with one person in your neighborhood.

The next time you see someone on the streets, possibly in psychosis, clearly scared and confused, what will you do? Most people will keep walking. Even after reading this article. But, what if your friend is suicidal? Too often, that’s an emergency we find out about once it’s too late.

Read my short article on how to prevent suicide.

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I basically recapped this article from NAMI. If your loved one is dealing with a serious mental illness, I recommend reading it and connecting with your local NAMI, as well. They’ll help you be best prepared.

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Big fat disclaimer: This article I wrote is not endorsed by NAMI. I volunteered on the NAMI HelpLine, but I do not represent the official views of the organization.