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Office of Behavioral Health: Free counseling services through Keep Calm Through COVID hotline

Posted at 11:07 AM, Mar 18, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-25 14:20:25-04

BATON ROUGE, La. - Recognizing the strong emotions and associated stress many people are feeling with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Behavioral Health has established a hotline to help Louisianans cope.

The Keep Calm Through COVID crisis phone line provides trained, compassionate counselors to support Louisianans through this difficult time, according to a press release from the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Behavioral Health.

Counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with information and service coordination, linking callers to mental health and substance abuse counseling services. This service is available to the public at no charge.

"We are all learning so much about this virus each day and we have made significant changes to our day-to-day lives to prevent the spread of the illness. The threat of COVID-19 and so many changes to our normal routines can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety," said Karen Stubbs, assistant secretary of the Office of Behavioral Health. "These are normal feelings and it's important for each individual who is having a hard time with these emotions to reach out for help. The Keep Calm Through COVID hotline is available to help."

Call the Keep Calm Through COVID hotline for counseling at 1-866-310-7977 at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential.

For COVID-19 information from the Department of Health, click here.