“…If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell…to remain as I am is impossible.” — Abraham Lincoln
If you think you might need professional help for anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions, please don’t hesitate to take the time to search for and find a good health care provider who is a good fit for you. Often people turn to tarot at times when they are in crisis, but please be aware that there are many times when a mental health professional is a more appropriate choice for getting help. Tarot can be a supportive addition to therapy (like so many other supportive things that you can do for yourself: meditation, exercise, good nutrition, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, etc.), and it is a helpful tool to have in your life, but please don’t try to use it as a substitute for needed medical care. If you find yourself in the kind of a crisis in which you need support for your mental health, you may want to consider turning to any of the following resources.
For a crisis hotline in Milwaukee, call 414-257-7222. This number is staffed by Milwaukee County Behavioral Health.
If you need a crisis hotline for Ozaukee County, call 262-377-COPE.
If you are considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is available 24/7: 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255). If you don’t feel like talking on the phone, please know that the website for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers an online chat option.
If, however, you are simply looking for someone to talk to via text, to be a good listener when no one else is available to listen to you, there is another wonderful (and free) resource that I can recommend: 7 Cups of Tea. 7 Cups of Tea offers trained active listeners, self-help guides, and supportive community forums. I am an active listener for 7 Cups of Tea myself, and try to be online there regularly.
One thing that disappoints me about the resources I was able to find for the listing on this page is that although many sites will refer you to therapists or support groups, it is very difficult to find a tool that will find you a psychiatrist. For that, you may have to ask your primary care provider, your insurance company, or Google.
Milwaukee area resources:
Mental Health America of Wisconsin, 414-344-0447. MHA can direct you to therapists, support groups, and to veteran and family resources. It has one of those tools where you can put in your zip code and look for resources within a certain geographic area.
NAMI Greater Milwaukee, 414-344-0447. NAMI offers a variety of support groups and help navigating the mental health care system. NAMI also offers a peer-to-peer class which emphasizes the use of mindfulness techniques — which sounds like a promising resource to me. It’s a little frightening, though, to see that nothing is listed on NAMI’s calendar at the moment.
Grand Avenue Club, 414-276-6474. Grand Avenue Club offers a clubhouse for people with persistent mental health problems, and also offers help finding employment
National resources:
National Association for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 802-296-6300. NAPTSD is a resource for veterans and for families and friends of veterans, and is sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 240-485-1001. ADAA offers online screening tools, and can direct you to treatment professionals and support groups. It also explains how to apply for disability benefits if needed, and offers many self-help publications.
American Psychiatric Association, 888-357-7924. The APA website is surprisingly user-UNfriendly, so know that going in. It does contain a lot of information, which is why I am listing it here, but I was disappointed to see that it does not offer a directory that could help in finding a psychiatrist. You would think psychiatrists would WANT to help patients to find them!
National Institute of Mental Health, 866-615-6464. Like the APA website, NIMH is somewhat disappointing if you are trying to find a practitioner or a doctor, but it does contain a lot of general information. And, if you are a depressed man, you may want to consult NIMH’s page on depression in men.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Mental Health Information Center, 800-789-2467. SAMHSA does provide referrals and has a treatment facility locator tool.
If you know of other resources that I should consider adding to this list, or if you have feedback about any of these listings that you’d like me to be aware of, please contact me or comment below. Thanks!
Quiet Mystic 