In response to a glaring deficit in mental health services in the state of Colorado, the university is offering all employees a new option for quick access to care – The Real Help Hotline at (833) 533-CHAT (2428).
Life is full of stressful events. Pivotal moments like buying a home, having a child or going through a divorce are obvious sources of stress. But day-to-day obligations as seemingly simple as paying the bills can become overwhelming too. Beyond the typical struggles we all face, depression, anxiety, addiction and other, more serious, health problems are prevalent in modern society.
These are all matters of mental wellness.
While we know these issues exist, support and treatment is still hard to find. According to The Denver Post, “The wait to see a psychiatrist in this city [Denver] is about five months long. Colorado has only 15 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, compared with 92 primary-care physicians.”
This deficit led Governor Hickenlooper to take action in 2014 when he launched Colorado’s first statewide mental health crisis line.
While public officials and hospital systems continue to search for solutions, we believe it’s important to implement a plan of our own so that support is immediately available to all faculty and staff. That’s why the CU Health Plan recently launched the Real Help Hotline.
The Real Help Hot Line makes it easy to access professional counselors who can provide immediate crisis counseling or offer assistance finding local resources to anyone facing a problem they can’t seem to solve. The service is free and confidential, available 24 hours a day and open to all employees at organizations that offer CU Health Plans (non-CU Health Plan members included).
The number to call is (833) 533-CHAT (2428).