VA Mental Health Services
Subject: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mental Health Strategic Healthcare Group provides general inpatient psychiatric services at 132 medical centers as well as mental health outpatient services in 689 medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics. In addition, readjustment counseling services are available for veterans and their families at 209 Vet Centers across the nation. Mental health services are available in primary care clinics, VA nursing homes, and residential care facilities where veterans receive health care. Veterans with a serious mental illness are seen at facilities and clinics where specialized programs, such as mental health intensive case management, day centers, work programs and psychosocial rehabilitation are provided. For specific information, go to http://mentalhealth.va.gov Links to attendant information which include the following topics can also be found on this website: Substance Use, Abuse Drug Policy Veteran Recovery Homelessness Women Veterans Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Vocational rehabilitation My Healthe Vet Vet Centers (Readjustment Counseling Services) Eligibility Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Centers (MIRECC) OEF/OIF Returning Veterans Fact Sheet National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Strategy for Suicide Prevention National Institute of Mental Health National Center for Injury Prevention and Control American Association of Suicidology.
Veterans Chat Link: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
The Suicide Prevention campaign of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has expanded it’s outreach to all Veterans by piloting an online, one-to-one “chat service” for Veterans who prefer reaching out for assistance using the Internet.
Called “Veterans Chat,” the new service enables Veterans, their families and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor. If a “chatter” is determined to be in a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the person to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.
“This online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline,” said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Acting Under Secretary for Health. “It is meant to provide Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA’s suicide prevention services.”
Veterans, family members or friends can access Veterans Chat through the suicide prevention Web site (www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org). There is a Veterans tab on the left-hand side of the website that will take them directly to Veteran resource information. On this page, they can see the Hotline number (1-800-273-TALK), and click on the Veterans Chat tab on the right side of the Web page to enter.
Veterans retain anonymity by entering whatever names they choose once they enter the one-on-one chat. They are then joined by a counselor who is trained to provide information and respond to the requests and concerns of the caller.
