Resources
This page is split into two halves:
(1) A mental health resources data bank with information specific to one's location or specific life situation and
(2) General resources for mental health that could apply to anyone
Mental health resources by location and specialty
A note on finding help via this table
For those who may not be familiar with AirTable, the filter function can seem unintuitive to use, but it actually is a very useful tool for finding providers who meet your criteria! Just click on "Filter" and select "Add condition" to apply your criteria. Multiple conditions can be added at the same time by adding more with "Add condition". "Add condition group" can be used to filter by "and" or "or". Scroll to the right in the table to view all of its columns.
General resources for mental health
For mental health providers
Julia Wise and Damon Sasi have put together a resource for mental health providers who are seeing an EA patient and aren't sure whether the person's EA involvement is part of a mental health problem.
Finding care
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Not sure of where to begin? This Healthline article provides information on what types of mental health resources exist and what the respective role of each of those resources is. Though it is a US-centric article, the information provided could be relevant to anyone seeking a guide to what's out there.
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Virtual Mental Health Resources: Wellness apps and online counseling sites. Several mental health apps offer free services
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Resources on mental health and finding a therapist from Lynette Bye
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Guide to navigating inpatient psychiatric care (US) from Dr. Scott Siskind
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Psychology Today's website provides a useful tool for searching for therapists
Crisis support
Crisis support phone lines and text lines (we're currently expanding this list to include all countries)
Therapy Route has provided an article that lists helplines, crisis lines, and suicide hotlines for 176 countries (so nearly every country in the world). Its last update was January 2, 2020. Command+F to search the page for your respective country. Or, check out this Wikipedia article listing suicide crisis lines, which lists resources in 93 countries.
Mindfulness-based program
Terezie Kosíková and Kristyna Šťastná are creating an international mindfulness-based program for the EA community. You can read more about the EA Mindfulness-Based Programme here.
Specific conditions / situations
Guides from Dr. Scott Siskind: The Lorien Psychiatry Database provides an overview of different mental health conditions, medications, supplements, and lifestyle suggestions.
Helpful lists
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Directory of bisexual support and community groups worldwide provided by the Bisexual Resource Center
The Mental Health Foundation has published a guide on managing and reducing stress.
This mental illness guide by Drugwatch provides succinct descriptions of various mental illnesses, warning signs, treatments, and the side effects of some of drugs used as treatment.
Those who have been in car accidents and are potentially experiencing PTSD might find this guide to PTSD and Car Accidents helpful.
For university students
The EA Off-Roads project was set up by Gavin Leech and Damon Sasi to help EAs experiencing executive dysfunction and struggling at university.
Trouble sleeping or getting good quality sleep
Check out this list of tips for sleep put together by Emily Jennings and this Guide to good sleep whilst working from home by sleep medicine specialist Dimitri Gavriloff.
Long COVID
There is currently a lack of research on self-management practices for those who experience long COVID. As of January 22, 2022, the Therapies for Long COVID (TLC) Study (ISRCTN15674970) sets out to remedy this issue through conducting a survey among people who are experiencing long covid. For information on dealing with the effects of long COVID on one's mental health, check out this guide provided by Rethink Mental Illness.
Books and written resources
Ewelina Tur's list of workbooks and self-help books
Support groups
The EA CoWorking Discord Server
EA Peer Support Facebook Group
Talks, podcasts, and posts by EA community members on mental health
Mental Health Resources tailored for EAs (WIP) by Miranda Zhang provides a personal account and description of resources such as:
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Sustainable Motivation by Helen Toner
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Holly Elmore's Scrupulosity lightning talk
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the 80,000 Hours podcast Having a successful career with depression, anxiety and imposter syndrome
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Desperation Hamster Wheels by Nicole Ross
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The Parable of the Talents by Scott Alexander
Burnout: what it is and how to treat it by Elizabeth is not only a very helpful post about what burnout is and what to do about it, but is also a helpful read for the comment threads, which contain other EA community members' personal realizations about and methods for preventing or treating burnout.
Mental Health and the Alignment Problem: A Compilation of Resources by Chris Scammell is a compilation of a lot of great resources for anyone concerned with maintaining well-being when confronted with existential risk.
Ben Williamson is currently piloting Effective Self-Help (ESH), which is currently a series of articles he will be releasing over the course of the next few months. The first articles in the series are on effective ways to improve sleep and reduce stress. ESH is something Ben intends to develop into a resource for the best guidance for individuals on improving wellbeing and productivity.
A Mental Health Podcast Directory (created by Ben Williamson) loosely based on the most common mental health conditions EA community members experience according to the results of the 2018 EA Mental Health Survey.
Other EA Forum posts tagged self-care might be helpful and are available here.
Check out the EAxPsychology website for all kinds of resources on the intersection of psychology and Effective Altruism.