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
- Phone or visit your local mental health welfare centre. Your public health centre can direct you.
- Have an initial consultation. It is usually free.
- Where needed, you are referred to a hospital. See mental-health-help.
- If ongoing support is needed, you can be registered for case management.
- 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