In Mississippi, public mental health care is overseen by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH), which certifies the regional community mental health centers and runs the state psychiatric hospitals. Call or text 988 for crisis support anywhere in the state, and the DMH Helpline at 1-877-210-8513 gives information about services near you 24 hours a day. NAMI Mississippi, based in Ridgeland, runs free support groups and classes through local affiliates across the state.
Every community mental health center in Mississippi runs a mobile crisis response team that can come to you at any hour. DMH lists each region's team phone number, along with crisis stabilization units from Corinth and Tupelo down to Gulfport and Pascagoula.
Mississippi's public mental health system is built around regional community mental health centers, each serving a group of counties and run under a regional commission appointed by county boards of supervisors. These centers are the main source of outpatient mental health and substance use care, and they also do the screening needed before someone can be admitted to a state hospital. For crises, DMH lists a mobile crisis team for each region and crisis stabilization units spread across the state, so people can often get short term care without a state hospital admission. Specialty academic care is concentrated in Jackson at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which says it is the state's only academic medical center. The Mental Health Mississippi site lets you search for services by county.
Crisis lines
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 anywhere in the United States, including from Mississippi. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day. For chat, visit 988lifeline.org.
- 988 in Mississippi (DMH). DMH's page on how 988 works in Mississippi. It also has a 988 and suicide prevention guide for schools.
- DMH Helpline. Call 1-877-210-8513 (601-359-6298 in the Jackson area) at any hour for information about mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services near you. You can also use it to file a grievance about services you've received.
- 211 Mississippi (United Way of the Capital Area). Dial 211 for a free statewide referral line that connects you with local help for rent, utilities, food, health care, and counseling. You can also search the 211 Mississippi database online.
Crisis care and mobile crisis
- Mobile crisis response teams and crisis stabilization units (DMH). Lists the mobile crisis response team phone number for each community mental health region and the phone numbers of crisis stabilization units around the state. Stabilization units offer short term treatment for people in psychiatric crisis without a state hospital admission.
State mental health authority
- Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Behavioral Health Programs. DMH operates Mississippi State Hospital, East, North, and South Mississippi State Hospitals, and the Specialized Treatment Facility for adolescents. Admission starts with a screening at your local community mental health center.
- Mississippi Division of Medicaid. Mississippi Medicaid provides health coverage for eligible Mississippians, including through the MississippiCAN managed care program and CHIP. Call 800-421-2408 toll free or find a regional office.
NAMI Mississippi
- NAMI Mississippi. The state NAMI organization in Ridgeland, with local affiliates in Central Mississippi, the Coast, the Pine Belt, Oxford, Meridian, Vicksburg, and elsewhere. It offers free classes such as Family-to-Family and Peer-to-Peer; call 601-899-9058 or 800-357-0388 (not a crisis line).
- NAMI Mississippi support groups. NAMI Connection groups are for adults living with mental illness, and Family Support Groups are for relatives and caregivers. All are free and confidential with no registration; check the calendar for times and places.
Community mental health centers
- Community mental health centers by region (DMH). Lists each regional community mental health center with the counties it serves, its address, phone number, and website, plus a map of the regions. Start here to find the center for your county.
- Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (DMH). These clinics serve anyone who walks in, regardless of diagnosis or insurance, and must offer crisis care, outpatient treatment, and peer support. The page lists which Mississippi centers hold federal clinic expansion grants.
Treatment locators
- Mental Health Mississippi: Find Services. A DMH resource site where you can click your county or search by keyword to find mental health providers. Call the provider to confirm what's available.
- FindTreatment.gov. The federal SAMHSA locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Search by ZIP code and filter by payment type.
University and academic medical centers
- University of Mississippi Medical Center Behavioral Health. UMMC in Jackson offers outpatient and inpatient psychiatry and psychology for adults, including care for mood and anxiety disorders, with separate children's behavioral health services. For appointments and referrals, call (601) 984-6925.
- UMMC Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. The medical school department behind UMMC's psychiatric care, with training in child and adolescent psychiatry, sleep medicine, and psychology.
- UMMC Adult Psychiatry Residency. UMMC describes this as Mississippi's only psychiatry residency based in an academic medical center, accredited continuously since 1957.