Mental Health Frequently Asked Questions
Question: How can I find and access mental health treatments and services?
Answer: Your family doctor, social service agency, religious leader, or your local mental health center can refer you to a licensed therapist who is registered and affiliated with a professional association. Also, you may dial 2-1-1, a telephone referral service that provides help and information for everyday needs and in times of crisis. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a Mental Health Services Locator for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs and resources nationwide. Decisions regarding the admission, treatment, and care of persons with mental health needs are made at the local and State levels, so the types of available services, and how those services are funded, vary by State.
In times of crisis call 911. The emergency room doctor at a hospital will be able to provide temporary help for a mental health problem, and will be able to tell you where and how to get further help. Two national suicide prevention toll free telephone services are available: the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255; and the 24 hour National Hopeline Network at 1 (800) 784-2433. Both of these contacts will
provide immediate assistance and connect the caller to the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider.
Question: Where can I find information about mental health disorders?
Answer: The National Mental Health Information Center provides free publications on mental health topics. You can order publications by calling the Information Center at (800) 789-2647, sending an e-mail with your mailing address to info@mentalhealth.org, or placing an online order.
The following organizations may be able to provide you with additional information:
American Counseling Association
5999 Stevenson Ave.
Alexandria, VA 22304
(800) 347-6647
American Psychiatric Association
1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825
Arlington, VA 22209-3901
(888) 357-7924
Health Minds. Healthy Lives.
(Public mental health information)
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 336-5980
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
Colonial Place Three - 2107 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22201
(800) 950-6264
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
4340 East West Highway, Suite 402
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 657-0270, TTY (301) 657-4155
National Institute of Mental Health, Public Information Branch
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
(301) 443-4513
E-mail: nimhinfo@nih.gov
National Mental Health Association
2001 N. Beauregard Street, 12th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22311
(703) 684-7722
Fax: (703) 684-5968
Mental Health Resource Center
(800) 969-6642, TTY Line: (800) 433-5959
Question: How can I get treatment for a family member who has a mental illness, but is refusing treatment?
Answer:
People generally have the right to consent to, or refuse, treatment. However, under certain conditions - such as when a person is considered a danger to self or others - he or she may be required to seek or receive treatment. This can include involuntary civil commitment, which can be for outpatient or inpatient treatment, as well as forced medication. Laws about commitment vary by State. If you have questions about the commitment process in your State, contact your State Protection and Advocacy program. The Mental Health Services Locator can provide the contact information for this program in your state.
Question: What resources are available for suicide prevention efforts?
Answer: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) considers suicide a significant public health problem and is involved in prevention activities. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides prevention support, training, and resources to assist organizations and individuals to develop suicide prevention programs, interventions and policies, and to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention collaborates and directs necessary prevention services and programs that are both public and private. Federal collaborators include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Office of the Surgeon General, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the private collaborators include advocates, clinicians, researchers and suicide survivors.
The following organizations may be able to provide additional information:
American Association of Suicidology
4201 Connecticut Avenue, NW - Suite 408
Washington, D.C. 20008
(202) 237-2280
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
120 Wall Street, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10005
(888) 333-2377
Question: What can I do if I feel my employer, or a potential employer, has discriminated against me because of my disability?
Answer:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a legal tool to fight discrimination. Any person who believes that he or she has experienced employment discrimination based on a psychiatric disability has a right to file an administrative "charge" or "complaint" with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a State or local anti-discrimination agency. Such individuals also may file a lawsuit in court, but only after filing an administrative charge. For more information about ADA see the Americans with Disabilities Act ADA Home Page. You may also find it useful to contact:
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
1801 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20507
(202) 663-4900
U.S. Department of Justice
Disability Rights Section Mailing Address
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section - NYAVE
Washington, D.C. 20530
ADA Information Line: (800) 514-0301; (TDD) (800) 514-0383
Question:
What are some of the challenges to accessing and providing mental health services in rural areas?
Answer: Nearly half of the American population is affected by a mental disorder at some time in their lives and yet the misconceptions, myths, and cultural taboos associated with mental illness may be the most significant barriers that keep persons with mental disorders from seeking and receiving treatment in rural areas. Inadequate knowledge about mental illness, even in the medical profession; fear of and prejudice toward those with mental illness; and hesitancy on the part of people with mental illness to get treatment instill an atmosphere of disgrace and shame in some rural communities. This stigma combined with other challenges can prevent people with mental illness from seeking help.
Because of their small size and close-knit society, rural communities are known for knowing everybody and everybody's business. Often news gets back into a community before the newsmaker. Cars parked outside of a mental health clinic are recognizable and patients in passing will recognize each other. Familiarity such as this will cause the mental health care seeker to feel insecure in regards to confidentiality and privacy which may suppress their seeking professional care.
Another challenge comes from the lack of mental health care providers and services in rural areas. According to rural health researchers at Texas A&M University's Southwest Rural Health Research Center, 20 percent of nonmetropolitan counties are without mental health services; and in 1999, 87 percent of the 1,669 federally designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas in the nation were in nonmetropolitan counties. Because of the scarcity of mental health care providers, primary care doctors, who may not be adequately prepared in mental health care, provide the majority of mental health services in rural areas.
Although small communities display characteristics that stifle mental health services they do rally around their residents and provide community support in times of need. This strong external support group can help facilitate a person's success in treatment and also help support the family's efforts in attending to the care seeker.
Question: What can a community do to minimize these challenges?
Answer: The most significant challenge regarding mental health care in rural America is the lack of health care providers and services. In recent years, health policy experts and health care providers have begun to encourage closer integration of mental, or rather, behavioral health and primary care services, for rural areas. It is assumed that integration will increase access to mental health care services and increase quality of care through enhanced coordination of services. In rural areas, where behavioral health workers and primary care givers are in short supply, integration is vitally important. Integration of these services is an effective strategy for maximizing the use of scarce rural health care resources and improving the quality of care for both behavioral health and primary care patients.
This same method of integrating behavioral health with primary care services can also help to reduce or eliminate the powerful social stigma associated with mental illness in rural areas. The social stigma prevents many rural citizens from obtaining needed services but is less a deterrent to accessing care when behavioral health professionals see patients in their regular primary care settings. This integration of behavioral health and primary care services also applies to the challenges regarding confidentiality and privacy. Rural patients may be reluctant to be seen in settings where their privacy might be compromised but more willing to seek mental health care from the more common and accepted primary care clinic.
Question: Where can I find mental health statistics?
Answer: SAMHSA's National Mental Health Information Center, Center for Mental Health Services provides
statistics by state in their 2005 CMHS Uniform Reporting System Output Tables web site. Also, SAMHSA's document Mental Health, United States, 2004 updates the national statistical picture for mental health
regarding service utilization, financing, treatments, individuals with mental illness, and mental health practitioners. The Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP), supported by CMHS, provides research and statistical information regarding mental health services. They can be contacted via e-mail at webmaster@mhsip.org. In addition, you may find it useful to contact:
Disability Statistics Center at University of California-San Francisco
3333 California Street, Suite 340
Campus Mail Box 0646
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 502-5210
Fax: (415) 502-5208
E-mail: distats@itsa.ucsf.edu
National Center for Health Statistics
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road
Hyattsville, MD 20782
(301) 458-4636
Credits
Sources:
2004 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Public Information Branch
SAMHSA's National Mental Health Information Center
Thank you to Jacque Gray, Assistant Professor, Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota and Deanna Dailey,
ND 2-1-1/HELP-LINE Administrator, Mental Health Association of North Dakota
Last revised 05/06/2008
