Mental Health & Addictions
Mental Health Services
Mental Health crisis
If you need urgent care, go to the Emergency Room (ER) at St Martha's Regional Hospital.
Bring your MSI card, or you will have to pay out-of-pocket for your visit. Go to the “Triage” waiting room to be assessed and registered.
Come prepared for a very long wait time. Staff have no way to estimate how long your wait will be.
There is not always a psychiatrist on duty, but one will be called in to speak to you. You may be able to meet with a crisis counsellor while you wait.
Washrooms and a drinking fountain are available. In the daytime the cafeteria downstairs, and the Breakaway Café at the Main Entrance are open - if you leave the ER waiting room tell the registration nurse in case your name is called while you are gone.
It is always a good idea to bring someone with you to help if you need food; to monitor you; and to help you advocate for yourself. It can be helpful to have someone else ask questions and take notes.
If you decide to leave before seeing a doctor, let the registration desk know.
St. Martha's Regional Hospital ER
24/7
♿️ 65 Bay St
If you or someone you care about is facing a mental health crisis, you can reach out by phone or text for support and counselling.
📞 24 /7 Crisis Line
📱 24/7 Crisis Texting Line (Adults)
📱 24/7 Crisis Texting Line (Frontline Workers)
📞Mi'kmaq Crisis Line
📞 Residential School Survivors’ Crisis Line
📞 University & College Students Helpline
St. FX Health & Counselling Centre
RM 305 Bloomfield Center / Peer Support Rm 417
📱24/7 Crisis Texting Line (Students)
📞 Kids & Youth Helpline
📱24/7 Kids & Youth Texting Line
Mental Health services (non-urgent)
Mindhaus Wellness is a private clinic that offers pay-what-you-can first-come-first served walk-in mental health clinic on Fridays.
Appointments are made day-of and can be in-person or over the phone.
Mindhaus Wellness
Fridays 8am-12pm [Closed holidays]
♿️ 376 Main St
The Mental Health and Addictions self-referral phone line is available to anyone with an MSI card who wants to connect to a psychiatrist, counsellor or other medical professional to address mental health and addiction concerns.
The Mental Health and Addictions website has a directory of services and supports, as well as resources and tools to support you.
Monday to Friday: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (Tuesdays until 8pm).
Voicemail on weekends.
The Veterans Affairs Canada Assistance Service provides free and confidential psychological support that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service is for all Veterans, former RCMP members, their families, and caregivers.
Veterans Affairs Canada Support Line
The Canadian Association for Mental Health (CAMH) offers many services and programs aimed at people who live with mental illness and those who care for them.
They offer dozens of free online courses to help you increase your resilience and ability to remain well. There are also courses for caregivers.
The Men's Helpline will help direct you to services in your area.
It is a referral line, not a crisis line. If you are in crisis, call 9-1-1 or the Mental Health Crisis Line.
Men's Helpline
The Palliative Care Department of Nova Scotia Health Authority can help connect you to grief and bereavement programs and supports.
Grief is a long process. You are not alone.
Peer Support Nova Scotia offers a Virtual Peer Support Group twice a week. These 90 minute sessions are meant to connect you to other people who know what you are going through, and who can share an understanding of your experiences with mental illness or mental health struggles.
They also offer trainings and programs on mental health and wellbeing.
Register for group meetings or events by email or on Facebook.
Mindwell U is an online support that takes just five minutes a day and can be accessed anywhere and on any device. This service is available in English and French.
Therapy Assistance Online (TAO) is an online resource that includes interactive activities and videos for people having challenges with their mental health. This service is available in English and French.
Togetherall program is available for youth and young adults aged 16-29 in Nova Scotia. Togetherall is a clinically moderate, online peer-to-peer mental health community that empowers individuals to anonymously seek and provide support 24/7.
Access Wellness offers one free telephone session of individual, couple or family counselling with trained mental health counsellors to help with general mental health concerns, including anxiety, job loss, grief, relationship issues and substance use.
Tranquility is an internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) program that has been shown to be effective in improving outcomes and reducing symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety and depression in youth and adults (16+). Qualified and experienced coaches are on hand to help clients get the most out of the program. Tranquility is available in English and French.
Peer Support Phone Service is a toll-free, non-crisis, province-wide service, available to all Nova Scotians 18 years of age or older. It is staffed by trained peer supporters, who have personal or family-based lived experience with mental health and/or substance use challenges.
Wed-Fri 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Sat-Sun 11:00am - 11:00pm
Antigonish Mental Health Awareness Facebook Group is a private group where Antigonishers can find support and encouragement.
The Mission of The Antigonish Mental Health Awareness page is to spread awareness and encourage communication of helpful information and to end stigma.
Search on Facebook: Antigonish Mental Health
👉 You must be approved to join the group by the moderator.
Other Services
Emotional Support Animal Assessments
Mindhaus Wellness offers emotional support animal assessments for things like daily support in the community and travel. The is not a free service.
Should you need special approval for flying or other activities, and your furry companion is helpful for your mental health, they can provide that assessment and documentation when appropriate.
Mindhaus Wellness
Fridays 8am-12pm [Closed holidays]
♿️ 376 Main St
Harm Reduction
Addictions Services
Quitting substance use is not realistic, possible or desirable for all people. The goal in harm reduction is to provide safety information for drug users and those who care about them.
Street Smarts is a harm reduction program that pays you to complete online courses on safe drug and alcohol use. It is a project of the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia. They provide information and supports to keep you safe if you use street drugs.
💰 Street Smarts pays you $50 to complete their harm reduction training online.
A take-home naloxone kit can save someone from dying from an opioid overdose.
An overdose occurs when a person uses more of a drug, or combination of drugs, than their body can handle. As a consequence, the brain is not able to control basic life functions. The person may pass out, stop breathing, experience heart failure or seizures. Overdoses can occur immediately, or over a number of hours.
An overdose can occur regardless if the substance taken is a prescription or over-the-counter drug, a legal or illegal drug.
Drug overdoses may be accidental or intentional.
Individuals must complete basic opioid overdose/naloxone administration training before you can get your naloxone kit. The training session is about 20 minutes long. You can get a naloxone kit free from any pharmacy.
Addressing addiction
If you want to quit smoking there are many free supports available.
Call to Quit offers free counselling and guidance for anyone thinking about quitting smoking, or trying to quit. [Register online] or call 8-1-1
Tobacco Free NS offer free weekly motivational text messages while you quit.
If you want to quit gambling or are concerned about someone's gambling call the Gambling Addictions Hotline
Gambling Addictions Hotline
If you want to quit drinking alcohol Antigonish has several Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups.
AA runs open meetings where friends or family can attend with you, and closed groups which are for recovering alcoholics only. Meetings are about an hour long. They are either discussion meetings where everyone is welcome to participate or speaker meetings where one person will share their recovery journey with the group.
You only use your first name in AA groups, and keep personal exchange of information to a minimum. AA is meant to provide support in your recovery while maintaining the security of anonymity. {Learn more about AA]
AA is self-funded. A donation hat will be passed around. Contribute if you can.
All AA meetings are free, there is no intake process, and there is an expectation of anonymity and privacy—meaning that you do not discuss what happened in the meeting, what was shared, or who you saw with others. This is a foundational principle of all types of AA meetings.
[See all local AA meetings - Cape George, St Andrews, Pictou]
Speaker Meeting
Thursdays 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Discussion Meeting
Saturdays 7:30pm - 8:30pm
12-Step Meeting
Sundays: 7:30pm - 8:30pm
HOW Club | 326 Main St
Unity AA Group: Open Speaker
Tuesdays: 8:00pm - 9:00pm
St James United Church | 197 Main St
Al-Anon is a support group for family and friends affected by someone else's drinking.
Not sure if Al-Anon is right for you? Try this short quiz.
More help and support
Search for information about government programs.
By Topic (ex. Housing)
By Department or Service Provider (ex. Community Services)
By Program or Service Provided (ex. accessible transportation)
Search for contact information of program and service providers across the province.
Fill out a simple, confidential survey to see what government benefits you are eligible for, with links to applications.
The regional library’s website has a directory of services and collections of brochures on subjects including:
The Health & Wellness section, in particular, has multiple links to information on subjects as wide-ranging as Affordable Housing to Grief to Diabetes.