Opinion: Mental health therapy is available and if you think you cannot afford it, you still have options
By Christeen Tilenius
According to “Mental Health America” in 2024, one in four adults with mental distress couldn’t get help because they couldn’t afford it. In hopes of helping people in Antioch to be able to afford help with their mental health if they want it, I am sharing this information with you.
I sadly had a friend who could not afford to get the help they needed with their anxiety and self-medicated themselves with alcohol to numb it. They died young after being run over by a car while walking in the middle of a busy road at night while drunk. I always wondered if they wouldn’t have turned to alcohol, and died young if they had been able to get the help they needed with their anxiety.
We often write-off our anxiety as stress and call it “normal”, as if there is no way to escape our discomfort due to the day and age we live in. There is a difference between stress and anxiety just as there is a difference between getting sad and having depression. Most importantly, we can help ourselves to start to feel better regardless of what we call our emotional discomfort.
It is obvious that we are injured when we have a broken leg and can just barely limp along with a cast on crutches. It is easy for all people to see when someone has a broken leg, but sometimes only we know if we are hurting emotionally. When we have a broken dream, promise, relationship or heart, regrets that won’t leave us alone or failures that continue to haunt us, we can feel just as hurt or worse than if we had a broken leg.
An analysis appearing in 2011 in the journal Psychiatric Times reports that up until that year over 20 studies had examined brain changes after therapy for depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and trauma disorders like PTSD; all found that therapy changes the brain as much as psychiatric medication. Please note that I am not in any way telling people who need medication to not take it.
There are local mental health therapists, who take various types of health insurance, provide free services and sliding scale services to help people to cope regardless of their income levels. If time is a stressor, you may be able to find a therapist who can help you with regular phone calls or telehealth meetings. California State Licensed therapists go through 8+ years of college education in order to practice in the state of California, often a testament to their desire to help you feel better. In closing, please remember that all people experience challenges at points in their lives and there is no shame in asking for help.
Here is the contact information for some of the free, low-cost, sliding scale therapy services and crisis hotlines available to Antioch, California residents:
1) Mental Health Services for Adults & Caregivers
www.cchealth.org/get-care/mental-health
Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) – Behavioral Health Services (BHS)
Call the 24/7 ACCESS Line at 1-888-678-7277
2) Brighter Beginnings Family Health Clinic Antioch Behavioral Therapy
3505 Lone Tree Way, Antioch, CA 94509, (925) 303-4780
3) Lifelong East Oakland Health Center
10700 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94605, (510) 981-4100
4) Mobile Therapy by God’s Love Outreach Ministries (GLOM)
www.godsloveoutreach.com, (925) 999-4119
5) YWCA Contra Costa/Sacramento
1320 Arnold Drive, Suite 170, Martinez, CA 94553, 925-372-4213 ext. 123
6) Community Clinic Psychotherapy Services
2232 Carleton Street Berkeley, California, 94704, (510) 548-2250
7) Center for Psychotherapy
509 W 10th Street, Antioch, CA 94509, (925) 777-9540
8) Community Health for Asian Americans
3727 Sunset Lane, Antioch, CA 94509, (925) 778-1667
9) The Crisis Center’s Crisis Lines
Provide crisis and suicide intervention, emotional support, counseling and resource information for Contra Costa County. This program provides 24/7 Support via Call or Text. If you are in a crisis and need help immediately, please call 211 or 800-833-2900 or text ‘‘HOPE” to 20121 now. Doing so will quickly put you in touch with one of the program’s call specialists.
10) National Domestic Violence Hotline
1 (800) 799-7233 or text START to 88788
NOTE: In an emergency dial 911
