Mental Health Crisis Resources

When the crisis passes and you’re ready for ongoing support, call us at 423-413-6195 or verify your insurance any time.

If This Is an Emergency

If you or someone near you is in immediate danger, call 911 now. When you call, you can ask the dispatcher for a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer, a police officer with specialized training in responding to mental health emergencies.

If the situation is urgent but no one is in immediate physical danger, a crisis line is often the better first call. Trained counselors can de-escalate the moment, connect you to local services, and help you decide what happens next.

Tennessee Crisis Lines

Help is available around the clock, every day of the year, at no cost. Save these numbers in your phone now, while things are calm.

Crisis resources available to Tennesseans 24/7 include:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Tennesseans can call 988 and press 0 to be routed directly to their local Tennessee call center.
• Tennessee Statewide Crisis Line: Call 855-CRISIS-1 (855-274-7471) for free, 24/7 support from trained mental health professionals anywhere in the state.
• Crisis Text Line: Text TN to 741741 to reach a trained crisis counselor by message.
• Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988 and press 1, or text 838255, for support built for veterans and service members.
• SAMHSA National Helpline: Call 1-800-662-4357 for free, 24/7 treatment referrals, including for co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions.
• Mobile crisis and walk-in centers: Tennessee operates statewide mobile crisis teams for adults and children, 24/7/365, plus walk-in crisis centers. Call 988 and press 0 to access them.
• Tennessee Behavioral Health Safety Net: Call 800-560-5767 if you’re uninsured or underinsured. This state program provides essential mental health services for eligible Tennesseans with no other way to pay.

Specialized support lines include:

• Postpartum Support International: Call 1-800-944-4773 for perinatal mental health support. Our postpartum anxiety quiz can also help new parents assess what they’re experiencing.
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call 800-656-4673 for confidential support for survivors.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: Call 800-799-7233 for safety planning and support.
• The Trevor Project: Call 1-866-488-7386 for crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people.

How To Tell if It’s a Mental Health Crisis

A mental health crisis is any situation where someone’s thoughts, emotions, or behavior put them at risk of harming themselves or others, or leave them unable to function or care for themselves. Trust your instincts here. If a situation feels beyond what you can handle, that feeling is reason enough to call.

Warning signs of a mental health crisis include:

• Talk of death or suicide: Saying things like “everyone would be better off without me,” giving away possessions, or saying goodbye.
• Threats of harm: Talk or behavior suggesting the person may hurt themselves or someone else.
• Losing touch with reality: Seeing or hearing things others can’t, paranoia, or severe confusion.
• Extreme emotional states: Uncontrollable rage, panic, or despair that keeps escalating.
• Sudden withdrawal: Cutting off contact, refusing to eat, or being unable to get out of bed for days.
• Dangerous behavior: Reckless substance use, self-harm, or putting themselves in harm’s way.
• Inability to function: Being unable to work, care for children, or manage basic daily needs.

How To Help Someone in Crisis

Stay with them, stay calm, and take what they say seriously. Ask directly whether they’re thinking about suicide, since asking opens the door to honesty and brings relief far more often than harm. Listen without arguing, minimizing, or rushing to fix, and remove anything dangerous from reach if you safely can.

Then connect them to help rather than carrying it alone. Call or text 988 together, or call the Statewide Crisis Line at 855-274-7471, and let the counselor guide the next steps. Afterward, follow up. A text the next day telling them you’re still there does more than most people realize.

What To Expect When You Call a Crisis Line

A trained crisis counselor answers, and the conversation belongs to you. They’ll listen, ask questions about what’s happening and whether you’re safe, and work with you on a plan for getting through right now. Calls are free, and you can reach out for yourself or about someone you’re worried about.

In Tennessee, counselors can also connect you to real-world help on the spot, including dispatching a mobile crisis team to you or directing you to a walk-in center nearby. Most crises are resolved through conversation and community-based care, with Tennessee’s crisis system successfully diverting about 2 in 3 people from unnecessary hospitalization.

When You’re Stabilized: Continuing Care at Time Wellness

A crisis line gets you through the worst night. Treatment is what keeps that night from coming back. At Time Wellness, we help people move from crisis into lasting stability with care matched to what you need, from residential treatment at our Taft campus to partial hospitalization program (PHP), intensive outpatient program (IOP), outpatient, and virtual programs in Chattanooga.

Our team treats the conditions that drive crises, including depression, bipolar disorder, trauma and PTSD, and suicidal ideation, with psychiatric care and therapy working together in one plan.