In South Carolina, public mental health care runs through the Office of Mental Health at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (BHDD), which operates 16 community mental health centers and the state psychiatric hospitals. Call or text 988 for crisis support, or call BHDD Mobile Crisis at 833-364-2274 at any hour to have a clinical team come to you anywhere in the state. NAMI South Carolina, based in Columbia, offers free support groups and classes through local affiliates from Greenville to the Lowcountry.
South Carolina's 988 calls are answered in state by Mental Health America of Greenville County and BHDD's Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center. Call, text, and chat are available in English and Spanish.
BHDD's 16 community mental health centers each cover a set of counties, so every part of the state has a home center, from Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens in the Upstate to Georgetown, Horry, and Williamsburg on the coast. For rural areas, BHDD runs Highway to Hope, and every one of its mental health centers now has an RV staffed by counselors who can assess and treat people who can't get to a clinic. The statewide mobile crisis line sends master's level clinicians to wherever the crisis is happening, working alongside local police and emergency services. BHDD also provides school mental health services through the local centers, so many children can be seen at school. Academic psychiatry is based in Charleston at MUSC and in Columbia through the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Prisma Health.
Crisis lines
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 anywhere in the United States, including from South Carolina. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day. For chat, visit 988lifeline.org.
- 988 South Carolina. South Carolina's 988 site, run by the BHDD Office of Mental Health with Mental Health America of Greenville County, which answer the state's 988 contacts. It links to chat and ASL Now video access, and has resources for helping someone else.
- BHDD crisis resources. BHDD's list of crisis options, including the Deaf Services Hotline at 803-339-3339 (video phone) for deaf and hard of hearing South Carolinians. You can also text HOPE4SC to 741741 (AYUDA for Spanish) to reach Crisis Text Line at any hour.
- South Carolina 211 (United Way Association of South Carolina). Dial 211, text 211-211, or search sc211.org for free, confidential referrals to local help with housing, food, utilities, health care, and mental health services, available at any hour.
Crisis care and mobile crisis
- BHDD Mobile Crisis. Call 833-364-2274 any time, day or night, from anywhere in South Carolina. A clinician triages the call and can send a team to do an in person assessment, safety planning, and connection to care for adults and children.
State mental health authority
- BHDD Office of Mental Health. The state agency division that runs South Carolina's public community mental health centers, psychiatric hospitals, school mental health services, and mobile crisis. Free language assistance is available at 1-805-360-3326 (PIN 81767494).
- Healthy Connections Medicaid (SCDHHS). South Carolina's Medicaid program, run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Apply online, find a doctor that takes Medicaid, or call (888) 549-0820.
NAMI South Carolina
- NAMI South Carolina. The state NAMI organization in Columbia, with local affiliates across the state and classes such as NAMI Basics, Peer to Peer, and Family to Family. Call or text 800-788-5131 to reach the office (not a crisis line).
- NAMI South Carolina affiliate support groups. Free, confidential Connection groups for adults living with a mental health condition and Family Support Groups for loved ones, listed by affiliate. There's also a statewide Spanish language family group on Zoom.
Community mental health centers
- BHDD community mental health centers. Lists all 16 BHDD mental health centers with the counties each one serves, plus a phone directory. Find your county to see which center to call for an appointment.
Treatment locators
- BHDD Find a Provider. Search BHDD's mental health centers, state hospitals, county substance use treatment providers, and opioid treatment programs by keyword or category.
- FindTreatment.gov. The federal SAMHSA locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Search by address or ZIP code.
University and academic medical centers
- MUSC Health Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. The Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston offers outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care, including its Institute of Psychiatry hospital. Call 843-792-9162 to schedule an outpatient appointment.
- MUSC Sleep, Mood, Anxiety Research and Treatment (SMART) Division. An adult outpatient clinic in MUSC's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences that treats social anxiety, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, OCD, phobias, PTSD, and mood and sleep problems. Request an appointment through Psychiatry Scheduling at 843-792-9162.
- University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science. The Columbia psychiatry department behind the Prisma Health USC general psychiatry residency and child and adolescent, forensic, and geriatric training. Its clinical faculty see patients through the Prisma Health USC Medical Group.
Other state programs
- Highway to Hope mobile clinics (BHDD). Counselor staffed RVs bring mental health assessment and treatment to adults and children in rural and remote communities. Every BHDD mental health center has one; contact your local center to find out where it stops.
- School Mental Health Services (BHDD). Master's level therapists from the local mental health centers offer individual, group, and family therapy in schools around the state, year round. Ask your child's principal, counselor, or teacher to submit a referral.