Important: This page provides general information, not medical or legal advice, a diagnosis, or a guarantee of services, coverage, cost, availability, or a particular privacy outcome. Policies and benefits can change. Consult a qualified professional for personal guidance and verify coverage and costs with the provider and health plan. Do not delay emergency help to check coverage.
Crisis Support
How to Help Someone in a Mental Health Crisis
Who to call when someone you care about is in crisis in Southern West Virginia: 988, 911, and Southern Highlands' 24/7 crisis line, plus mobile crisis teams, what happens when you call, and how to connect to ongoing care.
If someone is in immediate physical danger, call 911.
To reach a crisis counselor right now, call or text 988, or call Southern Highlands’ 24/7 crisis line at (800) 615-0122.
When someone you care about is in crisis, it’s frightening, and most people helping have had no training for it. This page explains what help exists in Southern West Virginia and how to reach it. It is not clinical advice.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own
The most common reason people wait is not knowing whether the situation counts as a crisis, or worrying about making it worse by saying the wrong thing.
Neither of those is something to work out alone at 2 a.m., and neither is something a web page can settle for you. Crisis counselors do this work all day. They will talk through the situation with you, in real time, and tell you what to do next. That is the entire purpose of the line.
If you are worried about someone, call. Describe what you are seeing in plain words. Let the counselor take it from there.
You can also call for yourself. If helping someone is wearing you down, you are allowed to use the crisis line too.
When to call for help
Call 911 if:
- Someone has a weapon
- Someone has taken pills or hurt themselves
- Someone is threatening to hurt themselves or others right now
- You believe someone’s life is in immediate danger
Call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) if:
- You need to talk to a crisis counselor
- You need help figuring out what to do
- The situation is serious but there is no immediate physical danger
You can call or text 988, day or night. More at 988lifeline.org.
Call (800) 615-0122 (Southern Highlands crisis line) if:
- You need local help in Southern West Virginia
- You want to connect someone to a mobile crisis team
- You’re not sure if it’s an emergency but you’re worried
You won’t get in trouble for calling. It’s better to call and be wrong than not call and regret it.
What happens when you call
If you call 988 or the local crisis line, a trained counselor answers. They’ll ask what’s happening and help you work out next steps. They may:
- Stay on the line with you
- Send a mobile crisis team to where you are
- Help you decide whether 911 is needed
- Direct you to our Crisis Stabilization Unit
- Connect the person to follow-up services
If you call 911, police and paramedics respond. Their job is to keep everyone safe. If the person meets the legal standard for being a danger to themselves or others, they may be taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Mobile crisis and the Crisis Stabilization Unit
Mobile crisis teams serve Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. The crisis line can tell you what is available in your area and dispatch a team when it’s appropriate.
The Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) in Princeton is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and takes walk-ins. No appointment is needed. If you are able to get someone there safely, you can go.
Useful to bring, if you have them: photo ID, insurance card, a list of current medications, and the name of any current provider. If you don’t have those, come anyway.
Getting there in Southern West Virginia
Distance is a real part of this here.
- If you can’t safely transport someone yourself, call the crisis line before you try. We may be able to help arrange transport.
- Law enforcement can provide emergency transport when a situation requires it.
- Cell service drops in a lot of places. If a call cuts out, try texting 988, or call back from somewhere you know has signal.
- If you’re a long way out, a mobile crisis team may be the faster route than driving in.
After the crisis
Once the immediate danger has passed, the next few days are when connection to ongoing care matters and when it most often gets dropped.
Help them get connected. Southern Highlands provides outpatient behavioral health services, medication management, case management, peer recovery support, and substance use services in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. Call (304) 425-9541 to ask about an appointment or an intake. Which services fit a given person is a conversation for them and a clinician.
Ask about telehealth. For many outpatient services it’s an option, and it removes the drive.
Ask about case management. If transportation, benefits, or housing are tangled up in what’s going on, that’s what case managers handle.
Check in. A text, a call, a visit.
Take care of yourself. Supporting someone through a crisis is exhausting, and the person doing it usually has nowhere to put it.
What it costs
- Southern Highlands participates in WV Medicaid and Medicare and may participate with commercial plans. Coverage, network status, authorization, and cost-sharing depend on the service and plan.
- If you’re uninsured or underinsured, we use a sliding fee scale based on household income. Billing staff can tell you what you’d owe before you commit to anything, and can help you check whether you qualify for WV Medicaid. As a CCBHC, Southern Highlands serves people regardless of ability to pay.
- Calling 988 is free. Calling (800) 615-0122 is free.
Call (304) 425-9541 and ask for billing if you want the specifics first.
What if they won’t get help?
This is one of the hardest situations. An adult ordinarily makes their own treatment decisions, but emergency, guardianship, court-order, and involuntary evaluation or hospitalization laws can apply in defined circumstances. Do not rely on a single “immediate danger” phrase as the complete West Virginia legal standard; ask the crisis service what process and rights apply.
What you can do:
- Keep the lines of communication open
- Let them know help is available when they’re ready, and that they can walk into the CSU or call (304) 425-9541 themselves
- Call the crisis line and describe the situation. Counselors deal with this constantly and can tell you what options actually exist.
- Take care of your own mental health
- Set boundaries if their behavior is harming you
If it does become an emergency, call 911.
A note about privacy in small towns
One reason people in Southern West Virginia avoid getting help is fear of everyone finding out. “What if I see someone I know at the clinic?” “What if word gets around?”
Crisis and clinical information is protected under applicable privacy law, but confidentiality is not absolute. Information may be documented, used, or disclosed with authorization and for emergency response, treatment, payment, health care operations, reporting, court orders, and other purposes permitted or required by law. Ask the responding service about its privacy policy if you have a specific concern.
If privacy is a concern, ask about telehealth or about appointment times that are less busy.
Where to find general information
For general, non-commercial information about mental health conditions and treatment:
- National Institute of Mental Health: nimh.nih.gov
- SAMHSA: samhsa.gov, or the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
- NAMI West Virginia, for family support groups: nami.org
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I call 988 and they send police?
988 counselors generally try to resolve a crisis without emergency services when a less restrictive safety plan is available. Emergency services may be contacted when a counselor determines there is imminent risk or when the law otherwise requires it. The response depends on the facts, and the 988 Lifeline emergency-intervention FAQ explains the network’s approach.
Can I call the crisis line for myself if I’m overwhelmed?
Yes. If you’re struggling to help someone and it’s affecting you, you can call for support too.
What if the person gets mad at me for calling for help?
They might. But if you believe they’re in danger, it’s better to have them mad and alive than to not call and regret it.
How do I know if it’s serious enough to call?
If you’re asking this question, call. Deciding how serious a situation is is the counselor’s job, not yours.
What if I’m wrong and it’s not actually a crisis?
That’s fine, and it happens constantly. Better to check and be wrong than ignore it and be right.
Do I have to have insurance to call?
There is no charge to contact 988. Call Southern Highlands to ask whether its local crisis call has any charge and what payment rules apply to any assessment, transportation, residential, medical, or ongoing service arranged afterward. A sliding fee scale may be available for qualifying uninsured patients.
If you feel like someone might hurt themselves or someone else, call or text 988 or call 911 right away. If you need help but it’s not an emergency, call (800) 615-0122 to reach Southern Highlands’ crisis line. Mobile crisis teams are available in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties, and our Crisis Stabilization Unit in Princeton is open 24/7. This article describes our services and publicly available resources. It is not medical advice.