915 suicide hotline, other tools for mental health support launched

The National Mental Health Project, a collaborative initiative launched on Wednesday, aims to provide vital mental health support to those in need.

The initiative features a toll-free suicide hotline – 915 – to provide confidential support for anyone in crisis or in need of someone to talk to. Secondly, an official website – mentalhealth.gov.gy – that provides access to 24/7 live chat support with trained mental health professionals was also unveiled.

Thirdly, an animated series aimed at raising awareness and understanding of mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying was also launched. This series was designed to build empathy, encourage children and young people to speak up, ask for help and know that they are not alone.

These resources aim to provide confidential help to anyone experiencing mental health challenges.

The launch coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month and is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the Office of the President, and SBM Offshore.

“The hotline [915] is in answer to the needs of the people in Guyana to make mental health services more accessible wherever they are,” Director of the Mental Health Unit Dr. Timothy Morgan noted.

He noted that the project builds on progress made since the 2022 Suicide Prevention Act and the 2024 Mental Health Action Plan.

Meanwhile, Public Health Officer in the Office of the President, Jessica Anthony spoke about the importance of the new tools.

“The website gives us a centralized, accessible and trusted space where people can learn more about mental health and access various resources but the part I am most excited about is the 24/7 chat platform that we have built into this site,” Anthony explained.

The chat platform is equipped with trained mental health support agents. Anthony assured that the chat platform is confidential and does not require users to share personal contact information. In emergencies, users are redirected to the 915 hotline.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony acknowledged Guyana’s longstanding challenges with suicide and mental health, but said the country is now “starting to turn that around” through targeted action like the tools and resources launched on Tuesday.

Dr. Anthony also addressed shortcomings in the primary healthcare system where mental health concerns are often overlooked.

“We also recognised that when people come into our primary healthcare system that one of the challenges we have is that our doctors very often do not talk to people about mental health, so we talk to them about all the other things but sometimes we ignore mental health,” Dr Anthony explained.

And so, more than 100 physicians across the country have been trained to integrate mental health care into their services.