Mental Health Resource List
Mental health is an undeniably important matter, yet most people don’t have access to the resources they need when they need help.
At Social Work License Map, they have compiled a comprehensive list of resources for anyone seeking information about and/or help for a range of mental health issues.
The list spans diagnostic tools, research portals, government organizations, nonprofits, blogs, and phone hotlines devoted to addressing issues ranging from general mental illnesses and disorders such as autism, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse, to the specific needs of diverse populations, including LGBTQ youth, minorities, women, and veterans.
Take a look at these resources and if you have suggestions for any other resource they may have missed, email them at [email protected]
Information
- PsychCentral
Website: http://psychcentral.com/resources/ External link
Description: PsychCentral is an extensive annotated directory of mental health resources, including general information, as well as blogs, online communities, support groups, articles, quizzes and books.
- American Psychological Association
Website: https://www.apa.org External link
Description: This is the official website of the American Psychological Association, the largest professional psychology association in the country. It’s made up of more than 130,000 clinicians, researchers, consultants, educators and students.
- American Psychiatric Association
Website: http://www.psych.org/ External link
Description: This is the official website of the American Psychiatric Association, the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It’s made up of more than 35,000 member psychiatrists.
- About.com
Website: http://mentalhealth.about.com/ External link
Description: About.com maintains a robust collection of articles about mental health topics.
- U.S. government
Website: https://www.usa.gov/mental-health-substance-abuse External link
Description: This is the mental health page of the U.S. government’s web portal for federal resources and information.
- Psychology Today
Website: http://www.psychologytoday.com/magazine External link
Description: This is the website of Psychology Today magazine. The magazine covers a range of topics in psychology authored by experts in the field.
Organizations
- National Association of Mental Illness
Website: https://www.nami.org/ External link
Description: The National Association of Mental Illness is the largest nationwide mental health advocacy grassroots organization with hundreds of state organizations, affiliates and volunteers. It is a hub for support groups, free education, raising awareness and building community.
- Mental Health Resources, Inc.
Website: http://www.mhresources.org/ External link
Description: This nonprofit provides community-based mental health services to adults, especially those suffering medical, social or substance-related comorbidities.
- American Psychiatry Association
Website: http://www.psychiatry.org/mental-health/ External link
Description: The American Psychiatry Association is the largest professional membership organization of psychiatrists in the world. The APA website hosts “Let’s Talk Facts” brochures on a range of illnesses, professional resources for psychiatrists, psychiatric residents and medical students. It publishes up-to-date news, research, government policies and developments in psychiatry.
Government
- National Institutes of Health
Website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.html External link
Description: This is the National Institutes of Health’s collection of resources from the National Library of Medicine. It includes information about conditions, treatments, patients, families and friends, latest research, drugs and supplements, terminology and definitions, videos, illustrations and clinical trials.
- World Health Organization
Website: http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas/en/ External link
Description: The World Health Organization’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse has a Project Atlas, which compiles resources and information about mental health and neurology policies, prevalence, statistics, medicines, professionals, information systems and publications. Topics covered include mental health in emergencies, maternal and child mental health, neurology and public health, disorders management and suicide prevention. Information can be searched by region, country or worldwide.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Website: http://www.mentalhealth.gov/ External link
Description: This website, run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides government information about mental health taken from the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Medline Plus, FindYouthInfo.gov and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The information is for the general public, health care providers, policymakers, schools and communities.
Diagnostic Resources
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Website: http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx External link
Description: The website of the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) provides complementary information to its print edition about the classification, assessment, symptoms and treatment of mental disorders.
- Mayo Clinic
Description: The Mayo Clinic, the largest medical practice and research group in the world, provides reliable physician-backed information about mental illness definitions, causes, symptoms, prevention, treatment and support.
- Screening for Mental Health
Website: http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/ External link
Description: Screening for Mental Health provides several national screening programs, including Youth Mental Health, Workplace Mental Health, College Student Mental Health, Military Mental Health and Community Mental Health. Other screening days include National Alcohol Screening Day, National Depression Screening Day and National Eating Disorders Screening Day.
Military/Veterans
- Veterans Affairs
Website: http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/ External link
Description: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website hosts screening tools, a veterans crisis line and a guide to mental health conditions that often plague veterans.
- National Association on Mental Illness
Website: https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Veterans-and-Active-Duty External link
Description: The National Association on Mental Illness has a Veterans & Military Resource Center, which is home to online discussion groups, information about veteran mental illnesses and treatments. It includes information about advocacy for active-duty members, returning veterans, veteran families, veterans in recovery, veterans looking for work, mental health providers, college faculty members and women veterans.
- Military Pathways
Website: https://www.militarymentalhealth.org/ External link
Descriptions: Military Pathways is a site created by Screening for Mental Health and the Department of Defense that allows military members and their families to take free, anonymous mental health or alcohol self-assessments. Completion of the assessment directs users to referral information for Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs services.
Youth, Teens, School and College Students
- Office of Adolescent Health
Website: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/mental-health/ External link
Description: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health offers information about adolescent mental health across states, adolescent mental health disorders and access to care.
- The Jed Foundation
Website: http://www.jedfoundation.org/ External link
Description: The Jed Foundation is an organization committed to the mental and emotional health of college students and preventing suicide among this population. The foundation runs several free online self-assessment and resource programs for students and campuses. It offers training tools for campus professionals to improve their mental health services for students.
- Youth.gov
Website: http://findyouthinfo.gov/federal-resources/federal-links External link
Description: This is a hub of government information about youth mental health issues, including substance abuse, LGBT issues, bullying and homelessness.
- ULifeline
Website: http://www.ulifeline.org/ External link
Description: A project of the Jed Foundation that provides a free, confidential online resource about emotional health to more than 1,500 colleges and universities.
- LawLifeline
Website: http://www.lawlifeline.org/ External link
Description: LawLifeline is a combined project of the Jed Foundation and Dave Nee Foundation. It is a free, anonymous and confidential online resource for law school students to seek out information about depression, anxiety, suicide, stress and self-harm.
- School Mental Health Project
Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/ External link
Description: The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools created the School Mental Health Project, an online collection of tools, research, publications and resources for school practitioners and professionals.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
Website: https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/LGBTQ External link
Description: The National Alliance on Mental Illness GLBT resources page contains articles, videos, publications, research and links to prominent organizations about GLBT mental health.
- Centers for Disease Control
Website: http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm External link
Description: The Centers for Disease Control maintains a section about LGBT youth health issues.
- GLBT National Help Center
Website: http://www.glbtnationalhelpcenter.org/ External link
Description: The GLBT National Help Center provides an online peer-support chat as well as free, confidential counseling over the phone for the GLBT community.
- GLBT Near Me
Website: http://glbtnearme.org/ External link
Description: The GLBT National Help Center runs this website, which contains more than 15,000 GLBT resources and offers tools for users to find local community centers, youth groups and support resources.
- The Trevor Project
Website: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/ External link
Description: The creators of the Oscar-winning short film “Trevor” founded The Trevor Project. The organization provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24.
- Help Center on Sexual Orientation
Website: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx External link
Description: The American Psychological Association’s Help Center on Sexual Orientation’s website provides research and information on mental health issues surrounding sexual orientation.
Women
- Office on Women’s Health
Website: https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/resources/ External link
Description: The Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides access to research, publications, Surgeon General Reports and general information for women’s mental health issues. This includes problems related to pregnancy and conception, menstruation, menopause, women veterans, suicide prevention and mental illnesses.
- Women and Mental Health index
Website: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/women-and-mental-health/index.shtml External link
Description: The National Institutes of Health’s Women and Mental Health index contains information, research and publications about women’s mental health.
- World Health Organization
Website: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/ External link
Description: The World Health Organization website contains a section on global mental health as it relates to issues of gender and gender disparity.
Minority
- Office of Minority Health
Website: http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=26 External link
Description: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health website provides statistics, news and treatment information.
Seniors
- National Institutes of Health
Website: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health External link
Description: The National Institutes of Health provides this online index of information, videos and training tools about senior health, including mental health and wellness.
- National Council on Aging
Website: https://www.ncoa.org/center-for-healthy-aging External link
Description: The National Council on Aging promotes programs that help seniors cope with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, addiction and more.
Getting Help
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Website: http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ External link
Description: This is SAMHSA’s behavioral treatment services locator.
- Half of Us
Website: http://www.halfofus.com/ External link
Description: Half of Us is a project by mtvU and the Jed Foundation that encourages public dialogue about youth mental health issues and refers high school and college students to resources where they can find help.
- Find a Therapist
Website: http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/?utm_source=PT_Psych_Today External link
Description: The Find a Therapist service from Psychology Today helps users find mental health professionals in their area.
- American Psychological Association Help Center
Website: https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/index.aspx External link
Description: The American Psychological Association’s Help Center contains a Find a Psychologist directory and help resources in the areas of work and school, family and relationships, health and emotional wellness, disasters and terrorism, and managed care and health insurance.
Support
- Mental Health America
Website: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ External link
Description: Mental Health America is a community-based network with 240 nationwide affiliates that provide services such as counseling referrals, support and finding housing for the homeless.
- National Council for Behavioral Health
Website: http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/ External link
Description: The National Council for Behavioral Health is a collective of more than 2,000 member mental health and substance abuse treatment organizations. The National Council is known for creating Mental Health First Aid, a public education initiative consisting of an eight-hour course that provides participants with a crash course in understanding mental illness risk factors, impacts and treatments. It is aimed at increasing early detection and intervention.
Blogs
- Social Work License Map
Website: http://socialworklicensemap.com/inspired-advocates/
Description: The Social Work License Map’s resource of blogs includes a mental health category that shed personal and professional insight and experience on various aspects of mental illnesses and mental health. These include eating disorders, trauma, autism, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and cognitive behavioral therapy.
- PsychCentral
Website: http://psychcentral.com/resources/Mental_Health/Blogs/ External link
Description: PsychCentral maintains an extensive collection of mental health blogs. These are subject to community ratings.
- Psychology Today
Website: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/index?tr=Hdr_Experts External link
Description: Psychology Today offers a directory of blogs run by mental health professionals and experts in a range of specialty areas.
Eating Disorders
- National Eating Disorders Association
Website: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org External link
Description: The National Eating Disorders Association is a nonprofit supporting people with eating disorders and their families. It provides an information and referral helpline, extensive information about eating disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, as well as handouts and toolkits for parents, coaches and educators, and forums for discussion and stories of recovery. The website is also available in Spanish.
- Proud2Bme
Website: http://proud2bme.org/ External link
Description: An online community for teens that encourages healthy body image.
Substance Abuse
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Website: http://www.samhsa.gov/ External link
Description: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency on behavioral health, runs several mental health campaigns and has information on health reform for providers, families and individuals. SAMHSA also has a helpful online behavioral treatment services locator.
Anxiety, OCD, PTSD and Depression
- Anxiety and Depression Association of America
Website: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/ask-and-learn/resources External link
Description: The Anxiety and Depression Association of America raises public and professional awareness, promotes research advancement and provides referrals for children and adults with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorders and related disorders. The website provides information about these conditions, their treatment and resources for professionals.
- Anxiety Disorder Resource Center
Website: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety External link
Description: The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s Anxiety Disorder Resource Center contains a glossary of symptoms and mental illnesses, a child and adolescent psychiatrist finder, facts and resources for families and youth suffering from anxiety and anxiety-related disorders.
- Depression Like Me
Website: http://www.depressedlikeme.com/ External link
Description: The website Depression Like Me is home to a “depression library” of articles about types of depression, depression symptoms, causes, treatment, support groups and links to more resources.
- Freedom from Fear
Website: http://www.freedomfromfear.org/
External link Description: This is the website of the nonprofit advocacy organization Freedom from Fear. It contains a wealth of research-based information and treatment referrals for anxiety and depression.
Bipolar
- Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Website: http://www.dbsalliance.org/ External link
Description: The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance is a national peer-led organization run by individuals with depression and bipolar disorder. It provides support groups, peer specialist training, wellness tools, research, podcasts, brochures, publications and information for clinicians.
- The Balanced Mind
Website: http://www.thebalancedmind.org/ External link
Description: The Balanced Mind, a parent network run by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, provides support and guidance to parents raising children with mood disorders.
Autism/Asperger’s
- Autism Speaks
Website: http://www.autismspeaks.org/ External link
Description: Autism Speaks is a prominent autism research and advocacy organization. The website contains links to apps, tool kits and a resource guide for families and individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
- Autism NOW Center
Website: http://autismnow.org/ External link
Description: The Autism NOW Center is a resource for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families. The Center’s resources include fact sheets, webinars, a newsletter and a call center. It focuses on the topics of early detection, intervention, education, transition, aging, community inclusion, long-term care and health care reform.
Schizophrenia
- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Website: http://bbrfoundation.org/ External link
Description: The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards grants to scientists conducting research on causes and treatments of mental disorders in children and adults. This includes schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, attention-deficit hyperactivity and autism.
Hotlines
- Mental Health Project
Website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/hotline.htm External link
Description: UCLA’s School Mental Health Project compiled a list of hotlines that are useful for school practitioners.
- Safe Horizon
Website: http://www.safehorizon.org/index/get-help-8/call-our-hotlines-51.html External link
Description: Sexual assault prevention and awareness organization Safe Horizon provides a hotline for domestic violence victims, sexual assault victims and crime victims to receive 24/7 free crisis counseling and safety planning.
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Website: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ External link
Description: This is a confidential, toll-free, 24-hour suicide prevention hotline. Call 1-800-273-TALK to receive counseling and local referrals.
- Teen Health & Wellness
Website: http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/static/hotlines External link
Description: A list of hotlines for teens facing issues ranging from bullying and abuse to drugs and eating disorders.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
Website: http://www.thehotline.org/ External link
Description: The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides 24/7 counseling and support to victims of domestic violence and abuse at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
- Veterans Crisis Line
Website: http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ External link
Description: The Veterans Crisis Line provides confidential help for veterans and their families at 1-800-273-8255.
