Mental Health Help

988 Colorado Mental Health Line

If you, or someone you know, are having a mental health crisis or thoughts of self-harm, call 988. They can also help with:

Emotional distress
Substance use concerns
Suicidal crises

988 trained specialists give free and confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Resources are available in both English and Spanish. To get help, you can:

Call 988.
Text 988.
Live chat at 988lifeline.org/chat.

Learn more at 988lifeline.org/ and 988colorado.com/en.

What is Behavioral Health?

Behavioral health is the actions that affect your body and mind. This means your physical and mental health. To stay healthy, it’s helpful to:

Be open to change
Work with your feelings
Do things that are good for you
Think about how you interact with others
Notice how you react to situations
Use helpful ways to cope with life’s challenges

Behavioral health is things like:

Behavioral health care helps you with:

Prevention
Diagnosis
Treatment

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is your emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Your mental health affects how you think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how you react to stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.

Getting Care

Getting preventive mental health care may be helpful. This may be able to stop you from having a mental health crisis. Or if you do have a mental health crisis, you might need less help to get better faster.

You can work with your primary care doctor to take care of your mental health and well-being. Or you can work with a mental health specialist.

There are many kinds of mental health specialists. Some examples are:

Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Counselors
Psychiatric nurse practitioners
Therapists

If you have Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), treatment may be covered.

If you have Health First Colorado, there are no copays for most behavioral health care. Click here to learn more.

If you have CHP+, there are copays for some of these services. Click here to learn more.

Talk to your doctor about your options. If you don’t have a doctor, we can help you find one. Call us at 866-833-5717. Or you can find one online at coaccess.com. There is a link to our directory on the homepage of our website.

Your doctor may be able to refer you to a mental health specialist. You can also search for a mental health specialist that is in our network. This means that they take Health First Colorado or CHP+.

You can also search online at:

Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) resources:

You may be able to get free mental health sessions with I Matter. You can get these if you are:

Age 18 and younger.
Age 21 and younger and get special education services.

Facts

One in five adults in the U.S. go through mental illness each year
One in 20 adults in the U.S. go through serious mental illness each year
One in six youth in the U.S. ages 6 to 17 go through a mental health disorder each year
50% of all lifetime mental illness starts by age 14, and 75% by age 24
Suicide is:
- The second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 14
- The 12th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
Click here for more facts about mental health.

Care for Young People

It is good for young people to be mentally healthy. This means getting to developmental and emotional milestones. It also means learning healthy coping and social skills. Social skills are things like conflict resolution, empathy, and respect.

Healthy social skills can help you communicate better. This can help you build, keep, and grow relationships.

Mental health disorders can start in early childhood. They can affect anyone. Some young people are more affected than others. Young people experiencing poverty may have poor mental health. They may also have poor mental health if they live in a community where there is a lot of drug and alcohol use.

Poverty can cause poor mental health. It can also be an effect of poor mental health. This may be through social stresses, stigma, and trauma. Mental health problems can cause job loss or underemployment. This can lead to poverty. Many people with mental health problems move in and out of poverty during their whole lives.

Learn more:

More info: Your Life Your Voice

How to contact them:

Call 800-448-3000.
Text YOUR VOICE to 20121.

Hours:

Call or text 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Website: yourlifeyourvoice.org

Care for Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

SUD can lead to not being able to control your use of certain substances. This means your use of drugs, alcohol, or medications. SUD can affect your brain. It also can affect your behavior.Some facts:

SUDs are treatable, chronic diseases that can affect anyone – no matter their race, gender, income level, or social class.
One in seven Americans age 12 or older reports experiencing a SUD.
SUDs can lead to major problems in all aspects of your life, such as at work, school, or home
Learn more here.

Facts About SUD in Colorado:

From 2017 to 2018, 11.9% of people age 18 and older reported a SUD in the past year. This was higher than the national rate of 7.7% of people.
In 2019, more than 95,000 people age 18 and older reported that they did not get SUD treatment or counseling services.

Treatment can help prevent deaths from an overdose. It can also help with drug and alcohol addiction. But the stigma around substance use is a major thing that stops people from getting help.

Find help for SUD for yourself or someone else. Click the name to go to their website.

Learn more:

Care for Living with HIV/AIDS

If you have HIV, you are at high risk of some mental health conditions. People living with HIV are twice as likely to have depression as people who do not have HIV. Learn more here.

Learn more:

Colorado Health Network (CHN)
HIV CareLink
It Takes a Village (HIV & STI walk-in testing site)
Help for HIV/AIDS
Servicios de La Raza
Vivent Health Behavioral and Mental Health Care

More info: Colorado Health Network (CHN)

How to contact them:

Call 303-837-1501

Hours:

Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Website: coloradohealthnetwork.org/health-care-services/behavioral-health/

More info: HIV CareLink

How to contact them:

Call 303-382-1344

Hours:

By appointment only. To get on the list:

Email info@thedenverelement.org.
Call or text 720-514-9419.

Website: hivcarelink.org/

More info: It Takes a Village HIV & STI walk-in testing site

How to contact them:

Call 303-367-4747
Email info@ittakesavillagecolorado.org

Hours:

Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Website: ittakesavillagecolorado.org/what-we-do

More info: Servicios de La Raza

How to contact them:

Call 303-458-5851
Email info@serviciosdelaraza.org

Hours:

Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Website: serviciosdelaraza.org/es/

More info: Vivent Health Behavioral and mental health care

How to contact them:

Call 303-393-8050

Hours:

By appointment only

Website: viventhealth.org/health-and-wellness/behavioral-health-care/

Care for People Experiencing Homelessness

Homelessness affects both physical and mental health. It can make it hard to access health care. As a result, if you are experiencing homelessness, you may have higher rates of poor health outcomes than people with housing.