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HALLOWELL — Maine’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness has announced the launch of the Teen Text Support Line, a new mental health program for youth 14 – 20 years of age living in Maine. The Text Line can be reached at 207-515-8398. The support line operates from noon to 10 p.m. each day, providing adolescents, who may need additional mental health support, with a safe space to talk with another young person. Staff providing support via this conduit are between 19 and 23 years of age.
“NAMI Maine is focused on providing mental health support to all Mainers,” says NAMI Maine CEO Jenna Mehnert. “We saw the need to create a mental health peer support teen text line and were able to launch this new resource.”
“In this time when routines are changing more than ever, it is important for youths to have some connection to others who can understand some of the struggles and disappointments that we are experiencing,” says one Maine eighth-grader. According to the 2019 Maine “KIDS COUNT Data Book,” the state’s youth have the highest rate of diagnosed anxiety in the nation and the country’s third highest rate of diagnosed depression among children aged 3 to 17.
The Teen Text Line is not a crisis line. If you believe that you or someone you know could be in crisis, please do not hesitate to connect with the Maine Crisis Line via phone or text at 888-568-1112.
Through support, education, and advocacy NAMI Maine is dedicated to building better lives for the one in four Mainers who are affected by mental illness.
For more information on the Teen Text Support Line, visit www.namimaine.org/page/teentextline, or contact NAMI Maine’s CEO Jenna Mehnert at 207-907-0303 or jenna@namimaine.org.
For more information on NAMI Maine and its programming, visit www.namimaine.org or contact NAMI Maine Public Relations Manager Alicia Hynes, at 800-464-5767, ext. 2308 or events@namimaine.org.
