Legislature to vote on statewide mental health hotline

Michigan is working to create a permanent statewide mental health hotline under legislation going to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

It would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When people experiencing a mental health crisis call the hotline, they would be referred to service providers across the state.

Pathways Community Mental Health is a U.P. organization who specializes in helping people with mental illness. For them, creating a mental health hotline means more people have someone to talk to in a crisis.

“Honestly, a lot of people are afraid to talk about suicide, and just having a national number shows that it’s a very common thing to discuss, and it really breaks down the barriers and the stigma. I think it would make people more willing to talk about it, or reach out if they’re really feeling that way or feeling a need to talk to someone,” Michael St. John, Clinical Program Supervisor.

The legislature is scheduled to take a final vote on the bill Tuesday.