The Disaster Distress Helpline is the first national hotline dedicated to providing year-round disaster crisis counseling. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 via telephone (1-800-985-5990) and text ("TalkWithUs" to 66746) to residents in the U.S. and its territories.
Anyone experiencing emotional distress related to a disaster can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline. This includes survivors of disasters, loved ones of victims, first responders, rescue, recovery and relief workers, parents and caregivers. You may call for yourself or on behalf of someone else.
Anyone living in the U.S. and its territories can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
When you call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline, crisis counselors will listen to what's on your mind with patience and without judgment, help you explore healthy coping skills, discuss available support you have after disaster, and connect you with local service providers if needed for follow-up care and support.
Our TTY number (1-800-846-8517) is also available 24/7, year-round, to all hear-impaired and deaf individuals, who can also use the SMS service by texting "TalkWithUs" to 66746 to chat with a counselor.
Through an interpretation service we are able to connect callers to 1-800-985-5990 and our counselors in over 150+ languages for individuals for whom English is a second language.
Direct crisis counseling is available for Spanish-speakers 24/7 via a 'press 2' option when you call 1-800-985-5990Spanish-speakers can also text 'Hablanos' to 66746 from the U.S., to 1-212-461-4635 from Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to 1-206-430-1097 from American Samoa, Guam, Palau, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and from the Federated States of Micronesia.
The Disaster Distress Helpline is a network of Core Region Centers located throughout the country. Each Core Region Center is an independent not-for-profit that provides the Disaster Distress Helpline services via an agreement with the administrator of the service for SAMHSA, Link2Health Solutions. The Disaster Distress Helpline Core Region Centers are:
The Disaster Distress Helpline is a crisis counseling service and therefore does not provide detailed, local information and referrals after disasters. For information about evacuation orders, shelters, resource distribution sites and other disaster-related, local resources and referrals call '2-1-1' or visit http://www.211.org to find the 2-1-1 Information & Referral Center nearest you. However, if searching for information and resources is making you feel overwhelmed with anxiety, fear, or confusion, call the Disaster Distress Helpline any time to speak with a caring counselor who can listen to what's on your mind, which in turn can help you to take steps to get the information and resources you need before, during or after a disaster.
Calls to 1-800-985-5990 are toll-free, meaning that you can call without additional charges via a landline, pay phone or cell phone. Similarly, there are no additional charges for the texting service. If you are using a mobile phone, standard text and data message rates will apply. International text and data rates may apply for U.S. territories and free association nations.
The Disaster Distress Helpline is a network of crisis call centers that works to answer all calls to (1-800-985-5990) and (TTY 1-800-846-8517) as quickly and efficiently as possible. If your first attempt at reaching us is unsuccessful, please hang up and try again. If you can't get through after several attempts, please email us at DDH@mhaofnyc.org describing the technical problems you encountered. Please include your name and preferred contact information (both optional) if you wish to receive a reply.
Crisis counseling via text is subscription-based. You have to enroll in the service before sending your first text message. In order to enroll, users must text the keywords "TalkWithUs" or "Hablanos" (for Spanish-speakers) exactly as written. Otherwise, the enrollment may fail or you may accidentally subscribe to another service. You will know that you have subscribed successfully when you get the following message seconds after you enroll:
Success! 1. Reply to this text w/ your question or msg; please don't text and drive. 2. Save 66746 in ur phone as "TalkWithUs". More: http://mos.io/i Once enrolled, you may text our crisis counselors 24/7/365. You may unsubscribe to "TalkWithUs" or "Hablanos" at any time by texting 'stop' or 'unsubscribe' to 66746. Please note that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Disaster Distress Helpline Core Region Centers, and Mosio do not sell "TalkWithUs" or "Hablanos" subscriber phone numbers to other parties and all phone numbers are kept confidential.
When you call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline, you do not have to give any identifying information. The Crisis counselor may ask you for some basic information at the end of the call but these questions are optional and serve to help us keep track of the types of calls we receive. Your phone number is also not shared or made public.
If you weren't happy with your experience reaching out to the Disaster Distress Helpline, we're very sorry and hope that you do try again in the future. Please e-mail DDH@mhaofnyc.org describing your experience and we will look into the matter. The Disaster Distress Helpline appreciates hearing from callers and texters about their experiences. We take feedback about our services- whether positive or negative -very seriously, as it helps us to continue and improve the service. Please email us at DDH@mhaofnyc.org describing your experience, including your first name and preferred contact information (both optional) if you wish to receive a reply.
Providers seeking more information about our services are also welcome to call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline, but specific inquiries regarding obtaining materials, technical assistance and support, exploring collaborations, etc. should be directed to DDH@mhaofnyc.org and a staff member will respond to your request as soon as possible.
For media inquiries regarding the Disaster Distress Helpline, please contact the SAMHSA Media Services Team at (1-240-276-2130). For social media inquiries, please contact DDH@mhaofnyc.org and a staff member will respond to your request.
Since this is a public hotline, you can use the Disaster Distress Helpline logo and number on your website and link to our materials and social media properties.
Please note that this e-mail address is NOT intended for use for crisis counseling. If you would like immediate help, please call (1-800-985-5990). Please e-mail DDH@mhaofnyc.org with any questions or comments. We will reply within 1-2 business days.