You can talk to someone right now.
Free. 24 hours a day. No insurance, no account, and no plan for what to say — "I don't know how to start" is a fine first sentence.
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
A trained counselor answers, 24/7. You can call or text the same three digits.
- Press 1 — Veterans Crisis Line (or text 838255)
- Press 2 — Spanish (or text AYUDA to 988)
- Videophone — for Deaf and hard-of-hearing callers, 24/7
Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741. A trained volunteer replies by text. Nothing is spoken out loud, which matters if you are not alone in the room.
Lines staffed by people who share the thing you're carrying
Consejeros en español, 24 horas. También puede enviar la palabra AYUDA por mensaje de texto al 988.
The Trevor Project, 24/7. Or text START to 678-678. Counselors trained specifically for LGBTQ+ young people.
Trans Lifeline, staffed by trans people, 10am–6pm Pacific on weekdays — not 24/7. It has a standing policy against calling emergency services without your consent.
If someone is in immediate physical danger
An overdose in progress, a weapon, someone already hurt: call 911 and say the words "mental health emergency." Many California counties can send a trained mobile crisis team instead of, or alongside, police. You can ask for one by name.
County access and crisis lines — Los Angeles (800) 854-7771 · San Diego (888) 724-7240 · Alameda (800) 491-9099 · Orange, OC Links (855) 625-4657 · Riverside (800) 706-7500 · Sacramento (888) 881-4881 · Santa Clara (800) 704-0900. Any other county: call 988 and they will route you locally.
What actually happens when you call
- A person answers and asks what's going on. There is no script you have to follow and no threshold you have to clear. You do not have to be suicidal to call.
- You don't have to give your name. You can stay anonymous for the whole call.
- Most calls end there — with the call. Talking it through is the service, not the waiting room for something else.
- Emergency services are involved in roughly 2 calls in 100. Across the Lifeline's own 2020–2023 data, emergency dispatch ran between 1.6% and 2.0% of calls answered. When it does happen, it is more often with the caller's agreement than without it — voluntary dispatches consistently outnumber involuntary ones.
Source: Vibrant Emotional Health, What Happens When People Are Actively Suicidal? — imminent-risk data, FY2020–2023. vibrant.org
Not a crisis, but not okay either
If you are a teenager: California teen crisis lines, text options, words to send an adult, and a 10-minute safety plan.
A warmline is the call for the night that's hard but not an emergency. California's peer-run warm line is (855) 600-9276 — call or text, free, 7am–11pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 8am–10pm Thursday. For adults over 60, the Friendship Line is 800-971-0016, 24/7.
If you have a health plan, you have a deadline. California law gives you a first non-urgent mental health appointment within 10 business days. Here is the law and the exact script for holding them to it.
If tomorrow needs a plan: how to find a therapist here without losing two weeks to voicemail.
Every number on this page was checked against the operator's own page on 16 August 2026. This page carries no analytics of any kind — no page views, no click tracking, no session recording. We accept never knowing whether it works.