Photo courtesy of TAADAS / Michelle Yarbrough answers a REDLINE/Warmline call on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The emotional support line is a talk line where call-takers help essential workers navigate stress related to the pandemic.A handful of state services continue to expand as they seek to provide a lifeline for Tennessee’s essential workers struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Created in May, the confidential Emotional Support Line for Pandemic Stress is open to essential workers to discuss their anxiety due to the coronavirus pandemic. The line expanded to include educators in December and enabled a texting feature on Monday.
“There’s a substantial number of people who are just more comfortable texting, and there’s also a substantial number of people who feel like it’s more private, that they can sit in a staff room, for example, and text somebody about an issue. They’re not having an open conversation that people can overhear, they just feel it’s more confidential and they’re more comfortable doing it,” said Mary Linden Salter, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug & Other Addiction Services.
The line was created with collaboration among Salter’s group and several other Tennessee organizations, including Mental Health Active Response Team, the Tennessee chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Unlike a hotline, which is used for crisis situations, the emotional support line is known as a “warmline,” allowing people to talk through their distress and call-takers can provide them with referrals. As of March 31, there have been 202 warmline callers who needed emotional support, Salter said.