Tennessee mental health resources

If you're uninsured and need ongoing outpatient care, the state's Behavioral Health Safety Net covers therapy and medication management for adults who qualify, through providers in every county.

Tennessee's mobile crisis teams work around the clock in all 95 counties, for adults and for children and youth, and you reach them by calling 988 and pressing 0 or by calling your local provider's crisis line. For adults, the state lists eleven crisis walk in centers and eleven crisis stabilization units, and you can use one outside your home county. A stay in a stabilization unit or crisis respite starts with a referral from mobile crisis or a walk in center. The Behavioral Health Safety Net works through 15 community mental health providers with 149 locations; in counties without an office, services may be offered in a neighboring county or by telehealth. Academic psychiatry is spread across the state, with departments at Vanderbilt in Nashville, UT Health Science Center in Memphis and East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

Crisis lines

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 anywhere in the United States, including from Tennessee. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day. For chat, visit 988lifeline.org.
• 988 in Tennessee (TDMHSAS). The state's page on how 988 works in Tennessee. Call and press 0 to go straight to a crisis counselor; each county has a primary and a backup call center in Tennessee, and three Tennessee crisis centers answer texts and chats for all 95 counties.
• TDMHSAS Helpline. For nonemergency help when you're having trouble getting mental health or substance use services. Call (800) 560-5767, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central, to talk with an advocate who can point you to local resources and explain your rights.
• Peer Recovery Call Center. A line answered by peers with firsthand experience of mental illness or substance use, run by the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee. Call 865-584-9125; hours are listed on the state's page.
• TN 211. Tennessee's community services help line, run through local United Ways. Dial 211 or text your zip code to 898-211 to reach a specialist who can find nearby help; hours vary by location.

Crisis care and mobile crisis

• Crisis services continuum and provider map. Explains mobile crisis, crisis walk in centers, crisis stabilization units and crisis respite, with a county by county table and map of which provider covers your area. Mobile crisis runs 24/7 for all ages.
• Crisis services for children and youth. Statewide mobile crisis for young people up to age 18, provided by Youth Villages, Mental Health Cooperative, Frontier Health and McNabb Center. The page lists the provider for each county and the three youth crisis stabilization units in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis.

State mental health authority

• Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS). The state department responsible for public mental health and substance use services. Its adult services page links to crisis services, the Behavioral Health Safety Net, housing, supported employment and peer recovery programs.
• Crisis Services and Suicide Prevention. TDMHSAS's starting point for crisis help, with links to the adult and youth crisis maps and to suicide prevention programs.

NAMI Tennessee

• NAMI Tennessee HelpLine. A free statewide peer support line for information, referrals and support for people with mental health conditions and their families. Call 800-467-3589, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central; it's not a crisis line.
• NAMI Tennessee support groups and classes. A calendar of NAMI Connection and NAMI Family Support groups run by local NAMI affiliates across the state. NAMI Tennessee also offers classes such as NAMI Family-to-Family and NAMI Basics.

Community mental health centers

• Behavioral Health Safety Net (BHSN). Outpatient mental health care for uninsured Tennesseans who qualify, including assessment, therapy and psychiatric medication management, through 15 community providers that serve all 95 counties. To apply, make an intake appointment with a provider and say you want to apply for BHSN.
• BHSN provider list. A table of Safety Net community mental health providers by county, with addresses, phone numbers and whether each site sees children.

Treatment locators

• FindTreatment.gov. The federal locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Search by Tennessee zip code and filter by payment type.

University and academic medical centers

• Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Academic psychiatry in Nashville, part of Vanderbilt Behavioral Health, with inpatient care, partial hospital and intensive outpatient programs. Its adult outpatient clinic takes referrals from Vanderbilt primary care providers and offers visits in person or by telehealth.
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Department of Psychiatry. Academic psychiatry in Memphis, with an adult outpatient psychiatry clinic at the UT Behavioral Health Center, 920 Madison Avenue, and child and adolescent psychiatry clinics with Le Bonheur. The department's number is 901.448.2400.
• East Tennessee State University, Quillen College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The academic psychiatry practice for Northeast Tennessee and the surrounding Appalachian region, based in Johnson City, with office and online services. Call 423-379-8082.

Other state programs

• Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN). A statewide organization, funded by TDMHSAS, that trains schools, businesses and community groups to recognize suicide warning signs and coordinates support after a suicide loss. It has regional directors across the state.