When someone you love is in the middle of a mental health crisis, the fear is loud and the clock feels fast. Many families reach for 911 because it is the number they know. If you are wondering who to call for a mental health crisis instead of the police, you have good options. A trained crisis counselor, a mobile crisis team and the person's own care team can all help, and this guide shows you how to reach each one. 911 stays the right call when a life is in danger right now, and we cover that too.
Is It a Crisis or an Emergency? How to Tell First
Three questions help you choose the right number before you pick up the phone. Is the person in danger of hurting themselves or someone else right now? Do they need medical help for an injury, an overdose or a physical symptom? Is there time to reach the provider who already knows them?
Mental health crisis help begins with a calm look at what is happening. A crisis is a moment when a person's usual ways of coping stop working. Common signs include:
- Hopelessness or talk of suicide
- Severe panic that will not settle
- Being unable to eat, sleep, bathe or look after themselves
- Extreme mood swings
- Losing touch with reality, such as hearing voices or holding fears that have no basis in fact
Older adults deserve a close watch. People ages 80 and older had the highest suicide rate of any age group in 2024, and an estimated 14.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide that year. A parent or grandparent who talks about being a burden is giving you a signal worth acting on.
Your answers point the way. Immediate danger or a medical emergency points to 911. A person who is struggling and needs guidance, or a team at the door, points to 988. A tense but steady situation points to the person's own care team. Each path has its own section below.
Call or Text 988, the National Mental Health Crisis Line
988 is the national mental health crisis line, and it answers every hour of every day. You can call or text 988, or use the chat on the 988 Lifeline website. A person who has never used it may wonder what happens next, so here is the path from the first ring.
When you call, a short greeting menu plays. Press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line or 2 for Spanish. Everyone else stays on the line, and a counselor from a local crisis center picks up. 988 is answered by more than 200 local, state and territory crisis centers, and interpreters are available in more than 240 languages.
On a 988 mental health crisis call, the counselor listens first. They ask how the person is doing, check on safety and talk through ways to bring the moment down. Then they help make a safety plan and connect the person to follow-up care or a mobile crisis team.
You can call about a loved one. Counselors support family members, friends and caregivers who are worried about someone else. Contacting 988 costs nothing, and no insurance information is needed.
The line is well used and getting quicker. Since launching in July 2022, 988 has received about 10.8 million calls, texts and chats through May 2024, and the average wait fell from 2 minutes 20 seconds to 1 minute 31 seconds.
Counselors resolve most crises on the call, without law enforcement. Only a small percentage of 988 callers need 911 activated, often with the caller's consent, and that happens when a risk to life cannot be reduced during the call.
Ask for a Mobile Crisis Team to Come to You
A mobile crisis team travels to the person in crisis, wherever they are. Teams include mental health professionals and peer support workers, who bring lived experience of recovery. When the team arrives, it will:
- Screen for safety
- Calm the situation
- Make a safety plan with the person and the family
- Connect the person to follow-up care
SAMHSA recommends that no one be denied or delayed mobile crisis services because they cannot pay, and this is standard practice for most teams.
You usually reach a team through 988 or a local crisis line. Tell the counselor you would like a team sent to your address. Availability varies by area. The national crisis care framework rests on three elements everyone should have access to: someone to contact, someone to respond and a safe place for help.
Central Maryland is building all three. The 988 helpline serves Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County and Carroll County. A five-year, $45 million partnership is expanding the 988 helpline, mobile crisis teams and community providers across those same four areas. Families in Anne Arundel, Harford or Montgomery County can ask the 988 counselor whether a team can reach their address.
Crisis stabilization centers give people a place to go other than the emergency room. In Baltimore, the Maryland Crisis Stabilization Center offers sobering services and other support to people under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Services are free, open around the clock and available without insurance, and walk-ins are welcome.
Call the Person's Own Care Team
When no one is in immediate danger, the people who already know the person's history are often the best first call. That includes the psychiatrist, therapist, case manager and primary care doctor. They know the diagnoses, the medications and what has helped before, so they can suggest next steps quickly and may be able to move up an appointment.
Paragon Health Services offers this kind of support to its own clients. Its outpatient mental health clinic lists crisis intervention, including assessment, stabilization and referral, among its services, and the team is trained to handle acute situations with compassion and professionalism.
The psychiatric rehabilitation program provides 24/7 crisis intervention for participants during acute mental health episodes. It also helps participants build emergency response plans, so prompt help is already mapped out when a hard moment arrives. Both programs serve adults, children and adolescents in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
When 911 Is the Right Call, and How to Make It Safer
Call 911 when a life is at risk right now. That includes a suicide attempt in progress, a specific plan with the means at hand, a suspected overdose, and physical symptoms such as chest pain or trouble breathing.
The way you make the call shapes what happens next. Tell the dispatcher, and then the officers who arrive:
- That this is a mental health crisis, and that you are asking for a response suited to it
- The person's diagnoses and medications, and any history of violence, or that there is none
- That you would like a Crisis Intervention Team trained officer sent
- What the person needs right now, in a calm and steady voice, since calm from you helps calm the room
Baltimore has a program built around this idea. Its 911 Diversion Program routes some 911 calls to the 988 helpline. In the program's first 17 months, 643 callers to 911 were reconnected to the 988 helpline, and 62 were helped by the mobile crisis unit.
Keep the care team's details and a list of medications within reach of the phone. Dispatchers and officers can use them in the first minutes, and the next section shows how to prepare them.
Make a Crisis Plan Before You Need One
A crisis plan is easiest to write while things are calm. Sit down with the person, if they are willing, and put the answers on one page. Keep a copy where you can find it quickly, and share it with the family members who might make the call. A good plan holds:
- Names and contact details for the care team
- Diagnoses and current medications
- Warning signs and triggers
- What has helped before
- The preferred hospital
- Who to call first
A page like this saves time when emotions run high. Counselors, mobile crisis teams and officers all ask the same questions, and you can read the answers straight from the plan.
Paragon's psychiatric rehabilitation program builds emergency response plans with its participants, so each plan fits the person who will use it. Families who work this way tell us the plan also starts useful conversations about what support should look like.
Steady Support Helps Prevent the Next Crisis
Crisis lines help in the moment. Steady outpatient care and community-based rehabilitation help prevent the next crisis by building skills, routines and relationships over time. Paragon Health Services offers an outpatient mental health clinic and a psychiatric rehabilitation program for adults, children and adolescents in the Baltimore metropolitan area. When you are ready to talk about steady support for someone you love, you can get started with Paragon Health Services today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I call 988 for someone else?
Yes. 988 counselors support family members, friends and caregivers who are worried about someone else. You can describe what you are seeing, and the counselor will talk through next steps with you.
Will 988 send the police?
988 is built for emotional and behavioral health support with as little law enforcement involvement as possible. A counselor contacts 911 only when there is an imminent risk to life that cannot be reduced on the call, which happens with a small percentage of callers.
Is 988 free, and do I need insurance?
988 is free, and no payment or insurance information is needed. Standard carrier data rates may apply to texts.
When should I call 911 instead of 988?
Call 911 for a suicide attempt in progress, a specific plan with the means to carry it out, a suspected overdose, or physical symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath.
What is a mobile crisis team?
A mobile crisis team is a group of mental health and substance use professionals and peer support workers who come to the person in crisis. They assess safety, calm the situation, make a safety plan and connect the person to follow-up care.
Does 988 know where I am?
Counselors see your phone number on a call, or your IP address on a chat, and they do not see your precise location. A precise location lookup is requested from 911 only in rare situations of imminent risk.
Does Paragon Health Services offer crisis support?
Yes, for its own clients. The outpatient mental health clinic lists crisis intervention, with assessment, stabilization and referral, among its services. The psychiatric rehabilitation program provides 24/7 crisis intervention for participants and helps them build emergency response plans. You can read more on the outpatient mental health services page and the community-based psychiatric rehabilitation page.
We are truly invested in getting people to a better place in every way possible. Our outcome-driven programming and support is geared to address living, working, and social functioning so that individuals may tap into their strengths, rehabilitate, and experience a bright future.
In addition to providing wraparound support for clients, we are also passionate about supporting Social Workers, Placement Coordinators, Hospital Staff, and Families. We know that when we come together as a team, the entire community gets better.
- Who to Call for a Mental Health Crisis Instead of the Police: A Family Guide to 988, Mobile Crisis Teams and More - November 9, 2026
- When Substance Use Changes Family Life: Finding a Way to Help - November 4, 2026
- What Kind of Mental Health Support Do You Need? - October 16, 2026
