A 2024 edition of The State of Mental Health in America, a report by Mental Health America, showed that approximately 1.8 million adults in Michigan reported having any mental illness in 2022; that’s 22.89% of the adult population, just a fraction below the national average of 23.08%. And while those numbers are grim, we’re doing better than much of the rest of the country.
Michigan is ranked 11th in the nation for lowest prevalence of mental illness and highest rates of access to care for adults and youth (ages 6 to 17). This is likely in part thanks to the countless mental health organizations offering care in metro Detroit.
Here are just a few:
Easterseals MORC
Easterseals MORC offers a wide range of services for people with various conditions, whether it’s a mental health disorder or a developmental disability. Mental health services include its Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic serving adults and children — “all people regardless of ability to pay, insurance status, and place of residence.” There is also a free, anonymous online mental health screening that can be accessed through its website.
“There are people out there ready and willing to help,” says Dr. Jeffrey Guina, Easterseals MORC’s chief medical officer. “We have therapists and psychiatrists, case managers who are there to help people, and peer support specialists.”
Visit easterseals.com/morc or call 800-75-SEALS (800-757-3257) for more information.
NAMI Detroit
The Detroit affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness hosts free family support groups, shares information on community resources, and provides education on different types of mental illnesses.
“Continuous lack of care or attention to your mental health can cause further sickness to your body if you allow it,” says NAMI Detroit board member Bianca Miles, who has a limited master’s social work license. “When people receive the proper care for their mental health needs, they are able to function better within multiple domains of life.”
Visit namidetroit.org or call 313-308-1465 for more information.
Common Ground
Whether via text, call, chat, virtual meeting, or in-person visit, the folks at Common Ground, an Oakland County-based and nationally recognized comprehensive crisis service agency, are available to talk in moments of crisis. The organization’s resource and crisis center in Pontiac offers behavioral and mental health intervention services around the clock; on-site programs include crisis stabilization and crisis residential care as well as sober support services.
The staff includes master’s-level clinicians, paramedics, and peer support specialists. “Last year, Common Ground helped more than 165,000 people move from crisis to hope,” says Janet Sarkos, chief crisis operations officer
at Common Ground.
Visit commongroundhelps.org or call 800-231-1127 for more information.
Hegira Health, Inc.
Hegira Health is one of Michigan’s largest freestanding, integrated behavioral health care organizations, providing a wide variety of mental health and substance abuse treatment services to individuals of all ages — regardless of severity of illness, residence, ability to pay — primarily in the western and downriver regions of southeast Michigan.
It operates more than 20 locations throughout southeast Michigan, including COPE, a first-of-its kind, specialty behavioral health resource providing urgent care for mental health conditions without an appointment and open 7 days/week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Like any medical condition, behavioral health conditions worsen when untreated,” says Carol Zuniga, CEO of Hegira Health. “You don’t need to wait for a crisis to get help.” Whether you’re feeling blue or anxious, are out of medication and can’t get an appointment, or trying to help a child struggling with studies or friends in school, “walk in,” she advises. “Don’t wait for an emergency.”
Visit hegirahealth.org or call 734-458-4601 for more information.
If you are facing a mental health crisis, call 988.
A shorter version of this article appeared in the May 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet or read our digital edition .
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