Mental Health Matters: Hotline Serves Residents in Crisis Across Colorado
In partnership with: Colorado Department of Agriculture
Coloradans in crisis can call or text for immediate confidential support, a free 24/7 service that shows the importance of caring for your mental wellness as much as physical.
The Colorado Crisis Services hotline at (844) 493-8255 (or text “TALK” to 38255) serves more than 250,000 people annually in their moments of need – any time of day, any day of the week from anywhere in the state.
“First of all, mental health absolutely matters; it is a real thing,” says Bev Marquez, CEO of Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners. Her company’s professionally trained counselors and trained peer specialists manage the hotline for Colorado Crisis Services, a statewide behavioral health crisis response system. “It’s really important that people have immediate access to the right resource at the right time.”
Of the 15 different hotlines that Marquez’s company manages, Colorado Crisis Services represents the largest. The hotline fields and makes between 700 and 800 calls a day for people in crisis or concerned about a friend or relative in crisis. About 60% of the callers simply need to talk.
“A crisis is self-defined,” says Marquez, a licensed counselor. “It can be anything from a family not getting along because they are all working remotely to someone calling who’s actively suicidal, and we are helping them put the gun away for the next 10 minutes so we can have a conversation and do some stabilization.”
Hotline Helps With Anonymity
Mental health in the agriculture industry proves more important than ever with a continually changing world and endless stressors.
The free hotline at Colorado Crisis Services offers accessibility, anonymity and affordability, common concerns in rural areas of the state. Suicide hits particularly hard in rural communities, where the rate ranks higher per capita, Marquez says.
Rural areas also more commonly carry stigmas regarding mental health because small communities often uphold a culture of taking care of themselves.
See more: Growing a Healthy Mind is Key to Mental Wellness on the Farm
“If they are farmers or ranchers or working in the mines, you work really hard, you go home and maybe you play hard, but what you don’t do is ask for help,” Marquez says. “I think different messaging out in rural communities has been important for us to do.”
Rural isolation, weather stresses and financial strain can overwhelm rural Coloradans who are more challenged with anonymity in mental health care than in populated areas.
“I might go to church with the local counselor, or they know my car or truck if I’m parked outside a facility,” Marquez says. “I think hotlines can be helpful there.”
Accessible Resources
A variety of local, state, federal and national funding allows Colorado Crisis Services to offer free phone and web support in addition to local crisis unit stations and walk-in centers.
People often think about mental health care as going only to a psychiatrist. Yet, support can be packaged in virtual sessions, phone apps, calling a hotline, talking to a primary care physician or talking to peer specialists.
Screening yourself or loved ones can help too. Some warning signs to seek support include the consistent feeling of dissatisfaction, conflict or isolation, whether in life, relationships or jobs. Someone in crisis may have trouble making decisions or use drugs and alcohol in a way that impairs their health or judgment. Expressing thoughts of suicide indicates the need to seek prompt help for yourself or on someone’s behalf.
“It’s a conversation that we all need to get more skilled and more comfortable in having,” Marquez says. “Our mental health needs regular attention and maintenance, like our physical health does.”
The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), together with Colorado State University, Colorado Farm Bureau and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, has partnered with Colorado Crisis Services since 2017 to promote the hotline in the state’s rural and agricultural communities and to help train those taking calls about the unique challenges faced by farmers and ranchers in crisis. Earlier this spring, CDA launched a new outreach toolkit that includes videos, radio messages and printable posters with rural-targeted messaging about the hotline. Learn more at colorado.gov/ruralmentalhealth.
For Free, Accessible 24/7 Mental Health Support:
Colorado Crisis Services
Call (844) 493-TALK (8255)
Text “TALK” to 38255
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Call (800) 273-TALK (8255)
Text “TALK” to 741741
Note: Similar to 911, “988” will launch in July 2022. In the meantime,