Support, first and always
Help you can actually reach tonight
This page stays one click from every story we publish. If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number. Otherwise, start at the top of this list — those two lines answer any hour.
Right now
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988
Free, confidential support for anyone in distress, 24 hours a day, across the United States. Press 3 for the LGBTQ+ youth line.
Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741
A trained volunteer counsellor by text message, for the nights when speaking out loud is not possible.
Ongoing care and peer support
Organisations we return to in our reporting. Several exist specifically for people who work in music.
MusiCares
Health & human services for music people
Financial, medical and mental health assistance for people who work in music, including therapy funding and addiction recovery support.
Backline
Case management for the music industry
Free, personalised referrals that connect musicians, crew and their families to therapists, support groups and treatment.
NAMI HelpLine
1-800-950-6264
Information, referrals and peer support for people living with mental illness and for the families around them.
SAMHSA National Helpline
1-800-662-4357
Free, confidential treatment referral and information for mental health and substance use, in English and Spanish, 24 hours.
Three things our reporting keeps confirming
Use music as a tool, not an anaesthetic
Choosing a record to move a mood is regulation. Playing one album on repeat to avoid a feeling is often the opposite — notice which one you are doing.
Tell one person the specific thing
Vague check-ins are easy to deflect. Naming the concrete detail — the sleep, the dread before load-in — gives someone something to hold.
Peer support and clinical care are not rivals
The forum is here for recognition. A clinician is here for treatment. Most people who get better use both.
The Vinyl Mind publishes history and hosts a peer community. We are not clinicians and we do not provide treatment, diagnosis or emergency response.