{"id":107984,"date":"2026-01-02T00:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T00:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107984\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T00:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T00:30:11","slug":"calls-to-san-antonio-mental-health-hotline-triple-following-camila-mendoza-olmos-death-by-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107984\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls to San Antonio mental health hotline triple following Camila Mendoza Olmos\u2019 death by suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 In the wake of a South Texas tragedy, experts say that there is a bright spot happening in the conversation surrounding mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Calls to a local NAMI mental health helpline have spiked over the last few days, following 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos<\/a>\u2019 death by suicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NAMI Greater San Antonio said that the spike in calls to its NAMI Bexar Warm Line is actually a good thing, because it means people are reaching out for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, when I checked, we started getting a lot of calls, probably two or three times the normal volume,\u201d executive director Doug Beach said. \u201cI think the news story clearly got people thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cwarm line,\u201d which can be accessed 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day by calling (210) 939-9999, is a free pre-crisis line that connects people to specialists who can provide resources and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it a warm line because it\u2019s not \u2018hot,\u2019\u201d Beach said. \u201cYou\u2019re not in imminent danger, but you\u2019re in a place where you need some support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to talk to somebody,\u201d Beach continued, \u201cand you need to kind of figure out, \u2018What are my next steps? How can I help a friend? How can I help myself?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Beach said the recent average call length is also longer, reaching around 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s amazing. Most of the time, when people call, you get 2 or 3 minutes at the most, but 15 minutes tells you that we\u2019re engaging with them and they\u2019re able to talk and we\u2019re listening,\u201d Beach said. \u201cPeople are opening up to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAMI\u2019s warm line experts all have personally experienced mental health struggles and can relate with callers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been down this path. They\u2019ve either been homeless at Haven for Hope or they\u2019ve struggled with their own mental health issues,\u201d Beach said. \u201cAnd so when they\u2019re listening to somebody, they know what that sounds like. They have that empathy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The helpline is available to callers of any age, even if you are under 18 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201c50 percent of mental health issues and mental illness begins by age 14. Then it\u2019s 75 percent by age 24,\u201d Beach said. \u201cSome of that has to do with brain development and going through adolescence, but it says that our young people are really most at risk. Yet people typically wait 10-11 years after their first episode to get any help whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beach said the earlier people talk about mental health and know where to turn for help, the more people will survive and even go on to help others. <\/p>\n

The National Alliance on Mental Illness also has free support classes, not just for those struggling, but their loved ones too. Those resources are available on its website.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the calls we get all the time are, \u2018Where can we get resources? Where can I find a doctor?\u2019 Or, \u2018My son or daughter is living on the street, I don\u2019t know what to do,\u2019\u201d Beach said, \u201cand we give them resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know<\/a> is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, call 988 or text TALK to 741-741. If there is an immediate danger, call 911.<\/p>\n

You can also reach out to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention<\/a> (AFSP) or the National Alliance of Mental Illness<\/a> (NAMI) at 210-223-7233 (SAFE) or 800-316-9241. You can also text NAMI to 741-741.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 In the wake of a South Texas tragedy, experts say that there is a bright…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[698,46707,2125,48610,82,84,83,15900],"class_list":{"0":"post-107984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-bexar-county","9":"tag-camila-mendoza-olmos","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-nami","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","14":"tag-san-antonio-news","15":"tag-suicide-prevention"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}