Struggling With Your Mental Health? Call CA's 'Warm Line'

CALIFORNIA — The holiday season isn't all cheer and celebration. For some, it's a stressful time of experiencing seasonal depression, coping with the loss of loved ones who aren't there to celebrate this year, navigating additional expenses and more. For California residents in need of emotional support during any time of year, the recently launched "Warm Line" — a statewide mental health line staffed with people who have dealt with their own mental struggles— is there to help, seven days a week.

The San Francisco-based Warm Line provides free, non-emergency support and referrals to California residents via the toll-free phone line at 855-845-7415. Counselors are available weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Sundays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Warm Line staff can also be reached via instant message. Unlike a hotline, the Warm Line is meant to help people who are not in crisis.

Need help with an immediate mental health crisis? Call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255).

The Warm Line launched ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10 and has been funded by an allocation of nearly $11 million over the next three years. State Sen. Scott Weiner and Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting, both of San Francisco, worked with Gov. Gavin Newsom to fund the project, according to a press release from Ting's office.

The Warm Line, operated by Mental Health Association of San Francisco, first began service in 2014, according to the press release. Callers have shared struggles with relationships, substance use, anxiety, panic and depression.

One in five U.S. adults deal with mental health challenges at some point during the year and one in 25 experience serious mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Nearly one in five youth, aged six to 17, experience a mental health disorder.

The peer-support model aims to prevent pricier, crisis-based interventions, such as hospitalizations, the press release said.

An average of 2,000 calls are placed to the Warm Line each month, according to its website. Warm Line counselors have taken more than 28,000 calls and chats, made referrals to 250 resources and connected people with services 2,000 times.

The Warm Line hopes to begin offering 24/7 service in mid- to late-January 2020, said Mental Health Association of San Francisco Executive Director Mark Salazar.