Boston Globe Feature: “Hotlines for parents in mental health crisis”

by Tanzina Vega

“The mental health crisis is coming to a head and it’s a hard time to get services, especially if you are poor,” said Sarah Brinley, executive director of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization Parents Helping Parents, which operates a 24-hour anonymous “Parent Stress Line” to help parents in crisis (1-800-632-8188). Some calls include parents “sobbing on the phone, where they can hardly even catch their breath,” Brinley told me. “We get calls for people who are waiting for help to come for their depression, or they call because they have a child that is being bullied, or is cutting, or is being violent.” For some callers, the hotline, which is free, may be the only help they can afford to access. “Even for people that have insurance there’s a long waiting list, or some providers don’t take it,” Brinley said. “Who’s gonna pay $250 an hour for a therapist?”