Federal and State Resources and Professional Organizations

There are also state and federal resources designed to help you find health care providers and low-cost services. Some of the state resources include:

• Texas Health and Human Services (HHS)
  hhs.texas.gov/services/mental-health-substance-use
  HHS offers mental health and substance use services for families and people of all ages.
• 2-1-1 Texas
  Call 211 for Essential Community Services | United Way 211
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
  www.samhsa.gov
  For general information on mental health and to locate treatment services in your area, call the SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). SAMHSA also has a Behavioral Health Treatment Locator on its website that can be searched by location.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
  www.nami.org/home
  NAMI provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness for individuals and loved ones affected by mental illness.
• Mental Health America (MHA)
  www.mhanational.org
  MHA is a community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting the overall mental health of all Americans.

Assistance for Children, and Youth Families

• National Alliance on Mental Illness North Texas
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network – Improves access to care, treatment, and services for children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events.
• Texas System of Care – Connects communities to ensure children and youth have access to mental health services.
• City House
• Mental Health America of Greater Tarrant County

Suicide Prevention

• C-SSRS - Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale – Tool that helps users identify whether someone is at risk for suicide, assess the severity and immediacy of that risk, and gauge the level of support that the person needs.
• Now Matters Now – Skills and support for coping with suicidal thoughts.
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center – Provides technical assistance, training, and materials for suicide prevention practitioners and other professionals serving people at risk for suicide.
• https://www.sccenter.org/ - Crisis can strike any time, day or night. When feelings of hopelessness, isolation, shame, and anxiety lead people to think that suicide is their only option, the can't wait for help. They need to talk to someone at our suicide and crisis hotline...now.

Few mental health providers outside of those in the public sector are able to immediately serve people who are in crisis. This makes community mental health programs like Texas’ Local Mental Health Authorities (LMHAs) the best option when you’re having a mental health crisis and need help right away. The people who answer Texas crisis lines can help determine the best response to your crisis, whether it’s assistance with obtaining inpatient treatment or setting up a first appointment with a counselor. They will also listen and offer immediate support. In Texas, LMHAs are often good options for people with one of the three diagnoses they were originally authorized to treat (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder), especially people who have one of those diagnoses and limited financial means. It is also often easier to obtain substance use disorder services through the public mental health system than through the private sector. Texas is currently expanding its public mental health system and updating eligibility requirements to extend services to people with other conditions including anxiety or trauma-related disorders. Whether you can get services for one of these conditions currently depends on which LMHA you call and their budget at the time. Available services vary among LMHAs but typically include psychiatry, medication management, case management, psychosocial rehabilitation, skills training, and counseling. Texas typically restricts counseling by type and diagnosis; most LMHAs that offer counseling offer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to people with major depressive disorder and cognitive processing therapy (CPT) to people with PTSD (note that some LMHAs still aren’t budgeted to serve people with a diagnosis of PTSD unless they also have one of the “big three” diagnoses). In general, it never hurts to call. The staff that answer the phone lines for LMHAs in Texas aren’t just familiar with their own programs, but also know about other programs in the community that can meet the needs of people who aren’t eligible for public mental health care. A phone call can provide immediate support and help you confirm that you’re ready for treatment. If you find out that you’re not eligible or that your local LMHA isn’t a good fit, you can search for free or low-cost private practice counselors on https://www.opencounseling.com/ or try https://www.betterhelp.com/get-started/?go=true&transaction_id=102521ac193637677494859d0831d7&utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=157&utm_medium=macOS&utm_content=&utm_term=&not_found=1&gor=start

La relación entre la violencia con armas de fuego y la salud mental es un tema complejo y debatido. Si bien es cierto que algunas personas con problemas de salud mental pueden estar involucradas en actos de violencia, es fundamental comprender que la mayoría de las personas con enfermedades mentales no son violentas, y la mayoría de los actos de violencia con armas de fuego no son cometidos por personas con diagnóstico de enfermedad mental. A continuación, se presentan algunos puntos clave a considerar:

▸ Prevalencia: La gran mayoría de las personas con problemas de salud mental no son violentas. Las investigaciones demuestran sistemáticamente que las personas con enfermedades mentales tienen más probabilidades de ser víctimas de violencia que agresores.

▸ Factores de riesgo: Algunos estudios sugieren que ciertos factores, como el abuso de sustancias, antecedentes de violencia o una combinación de enfermedades mentales y otros factores de riesgo, pueden aumentar el riesgo de comportamiento violento. Sin embargo, la presencia de una afección mental por sí sola no predice de forma fiable el comportamiento violento.

▸ Centrarse en las enfermedades mentales graves: al examinar la relación entre la salud mental y la violencia con armas de fuego, es fundamental centrarse en las enfermedades mentales graves, como la esquizofrenia o la psicosis no tratadas, ya que estas afecciones pueden estar asociadas con un riesgo ligeramente mayor de violencia, en particular cuando están acompañadas de abuso de sustancias o falta de adherencia al tratamiento.

▸Acceso a armas de fuego: Estudios han demostrado que el acceso a armas de fuego es un factor importante que contribuye a la letalidad de actos violentos, incluyendo homicidios y suicidios. El fácil acceso a armas puede exacerbar los actos violentos impulsivos, independientemente del estado de salud mental.

▸ Prevención e intervención: Los esfuerzos para prevenir la violencia con armas de fuego deben centrarse en múltiples factores, incluido el abordaje de problemas sistémicos, la promoción de la posesión responsable de armas, la mejora de los servicios y el apoyo de salud mental y la implementación de estrategias de prevención de la violencia basadas en evidencia.

▸ Estigma y conceptos erróneos: Vincular las enfermedades mentales con la violencia armada puede perpetuar el estigma y disuadir a las personas de buscar ayuda. Es importante promover información precisa, reducir el estigma y garantizar que las personas con problemas de salud mental reciban el apoyo y el tratamiento adecuados.

▸ COVID-19 pandemic led to increase in loneliness around the world</a><br>People around the world experienced an increase in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, which, although small, could have implications for people’s long-term mental and physical health, longevity, and well-being. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/05/covid-19-increase-loneliness

▸ Children with attention, behavior problems earn less money, have less education, poorer health as adults. Children who struggle with attention and behavior problems tend to end up earning less money, finish fewer years of school and have poorer mental and physical health as adults, compared with children who don’t show early attention and behavior problems. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/06/children-behavior-problems-poorer-health

Social stress, problem-solving deficits contribute to suicide risk for teen girls.             Teen girls who have greater difficulty effectively solving interpersonal problems when they experience social stress, and who experience more interpersonal stress in their lives, are at greater risk of suicidal behavior. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/05/social-stress-suicide-teen-girls

Therapy sessions benefit mothers, children in homeless shelter</a><br>Short-term therapy sessions with parents and their children in homeless shelters could help improve parenting skills and reduce parental stress and children’s posttraumatic stress symptoms. 

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/05/therapy-mothers-children-homeless

More than a quarter of U.S. adults say they’re so stressed they can’t function. Concerns high around civil liberties, inflation, violence, with nearly half of adults saying they don’t feel protected by U.S. laws. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/10/multiple-stressors-no-function

APA calls for police reforms aimed at curbing use of force, protecting marginalized populations. APA has passed a wide-ranging resolution on policing that seeks to expand training programs to include de-escalation techniques, build stronger relations with mental health service agencies, minimize targeting of people of lower socioeconomic status, and encourage officers to restrict when they use force. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/08/police-reforms

Most efforts to prevent suicide focus on why people take their lives. But as we understand more about who attempts suicide and when and where and why it becomes increasingly clear that how a person attempts–the means they use–plays a key role in whether they live or die. “Means reduction” (reducing a suicidal person’s access to highly lethal means) is an important part of a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. It is based on the following understandings (click on each to learn more):

• Many suicide attempts occur with little planning during a short-term crisis.
• Intent isn’t all that determines whether an attempter lives or dies; means also matter.
• 90% of attempters who survive do NOT go on to die by suicide later.
• Access to firearms is a risk factor for suicide.
• Firearms used in youth suicide usually belong to a parent.
• Reducing access to lethal means saves lives.

Firearm access can be a politically-charged topic. We welcome both gun owners and non-gun owners to this website. It is designed to introduce a non-controversial, “lethal means counseling” approach to reducing a suicidal person’s access to firearms and other lethal means. Families and friends who are concerned about someone can also help. Read more about ways to bring up storing guns off-site. Clinicians concerned about a patient should also consider addressing firearm safety with the patient, or with their family. The Harvard Injury Control Research Center is dedicated to reducing injury through training, research, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination. The Center has published hundreds of studies on injury topics ranging from motor vehicle crashes to alcohol use to youth violence and suicide. The Center is part of the Harvard School of Public Health. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/