Community mental health centres

Struggling mentally is not a matter of willpower. Help is available.

What they provide

• Counselling — depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia.
• Crisis intervention — support in urgent situations.
• Case management — ongoing support and referral to hospitals.
• Rehabilitation programmes — help returning to daily life.
• Family support — education and counselling for relatives.

How to use them

1. Phone or visit your local mental health welfare centre. Your public health centre can direct you.
2. Have an initial consultation. It is usually free.
3. Where needed, you are referred to a hospital. See mental-health-help.
4. If ongoing support is needed, you can be registered for case management.
5. 1577-0199 is the 24-hour mental health helpline.

What you need

• No particular documents — a phone call is enough to start
• Alien registration card, when registering for programmes
• A request for interpretation in advance

Where to go

• 1577-0199 mental health helpline (24 hours)
• Your local mental health welfare centre (ask your health centre)
• 109 suicide prevention line
• 129 Health and Welfare Call Centre
• 1577-1366 Danuri Call Centre (multilingual)

Questions people ask

Will counselling records affect my job or my visa? Counselling is confidential. If you are worried, ask before you begin.

I don't speak Korean. 1577-1366 counsels in several languages, and centres can arrange interpretation.

Do I need to see a hospital? Counselling helps you decide. Some people need medication; for others counselling alone is enough.

I'm worried about the cost. Centre counselling is mostly free. Hospital treatment is covered by health insurance, and medical cost support exists. See medical-fee-support.

Take care

If you have thoughts of dying, call 109 or 1577-0199 immediately. Don't stay alone — tell someone. Trying to cope with alcohol makes it worse. See addiction-center.

Related

mental-health-help · depression-support · suicide-prevention · addiction-center · grief-support

Source

Ministry of Health and Welfare, National Mental Health Portal www.mentalhealth.go.kr / As of 2026-08