COVID-19 and Mental Health

Uncertainty and concern for our own health and livelihood, along with the well-being of those we love and our community at large is a very stressful thing to live with. Below you will find resources that will help you connect with people who you can talk to about how you are feeling. We have also added information about virtual support groups that are being held. 

New Jersey has many helplines/hotlines that are open and ready to help answer your questions or just hear your concerns. Find more listed here. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can call 1-877-294-4356 TTY to access any hotline listed on the NAMI site.

If you are feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed due to COVID-19, please call NJ Mental Health Cares Helpline at 866.202.HELP (4357) for emotional support, guidance, and mental health referrals as needed. If you prefer, you may communicate via text by texting NJHOPE to 51684. Either way, live assistance from trained professionals is available from 8:00am - 8:00pm seven days a week. You can also email them at help@njmentalhealthcares.org. Visit their website.

Catholic Charities is also working in collaboration to provide Hope and Healing counseling services (see flyer in Spanish).  A vast variety of virtual support and discussion groups are available to provide emotional support. These groups are for people from all walks of life including: Health care workers, caregivers, teachers, parents, adults, teenagers, baby boomers, Spanish-speaking, and many more.

Check out the January 2022 virtual sessions

The NJ Hope and Healing program brought to you by Capital Health, serves all employees of healthcare facilities responding to the Covid-19 crisis. Due to prolonged stress and increased responsibility to care for those affected by the continuing pandemic, frontline workers in health care may be in need of additional support and resources. To best care for others, maintaining and prioritizing self-care is essential. To promote healing and well-being in all aspects of life, they have a helpline available Monday through Friday and offer individual & group sessions, support groups, as well as information on additional local resources to all frontline health care employees and their families. The Capital Health helpline number is 609-303-4129; Crisis Counselors are available Monday through Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm. Learn more about this program.

Hope and Healing also has Crisis Counseling Programs to help individuals and families who have been impacted by COVID-19 with a phone line which can be found here. There are also different virtual sessions every month for every age group. 

You may find other Hope and Healing programs in our resource database.

The State of New Jersey created a central hub for Mental Health and Wellness Resources geared towards youth, parents, and educators. Resources for crisis, how to identify mental health challenges, and where youth can seek help are provided to the public.

The NJ Department of Human Services’ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, in collaboration with the Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, have opened a videophone helpline for individuals who are deaf and/or hard of hearing to access emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.   
 
Sign language users are able to communicate directly with state partners at ACCESS, of St. Joseph's Healthcare System in Paterson.   Individuals who are deaf and/or hard of hearing can call 973-870-0677 VP, Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. 

As the number of cases of COVID-19 increase, so does the associated anxiety.

For the general public, the mental health effects of COVID-19 are as important to address as the physical health effects. For the one-in-five who already have mental health conditions – or the one-in-two who are at risk of developing them – we need to take personal, professional, and policy measures now to address them. To aid individuals and communities during this time, the national Mental Health Association has compiled a range of resources and information. You will find them here.

Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care in collaboration with New Jersey's Department of Human Services is launching a helpline for those in need of mental health and addiction services due to COVID-19. A series of screening tools will help assess the caller's needs and level of distress. The staff will then connect you with the best provider(s) for your situation. Call (833) 223 - 0011 from 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday. Learn more from this YouTube video and flyer.