Good mental health plays an important role in your overall quality of life, and it also may affect your physical health. While we know when to go to our doctor or to an urgent care clinic, it is often much more difficult to know when to get help for our mental health—or where to find it.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, nearly 44 million adults in America are struggling with some form of mental illness. Those conditions include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Of those, only about 40 percent receive treatment.

Today, there are many ways to get help, and the organization Mental Health America reports that many people diagnosed with mental health problems may find support with their recovery through a variety of different treatment options.

Here are some places you may want to look for mental health resources:

Finding Help Online

Start with the National Alliance of Mental Illness, where you can search for support organizations in your state, or call their HelpLine (800-950-NAMI), or text “NAMI” to 741741if you need to talk to someone right away.

• Chat rooms, such as the Lifeline Crisis Chat and Healthful Chat, which is an umbrella organization for several different mental health chat rooms, may be able to connect you to others who are going through some of the same problems you are facing.
• Online forums from Mental Health America cover a broad spectrum of mental health challenges, so you may be able to get support from others affected by mental health conditions.

In Your Community

You might be surprised to learn how many mental health resources may be available in your own community. MentalHealth.gov is a great starting point; it provides a lengthy database of mental health resources and breaks them down into age groups as well as providing more information about each organization.