Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in Sri Lanka
❝Crisis lines and suicide hotlines in Sri Lanka offer you the lifeline you need when you need it most. Reaching out is a step worth taking.❞
IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS, PLEASE READ THIS FIRST. If you are in immediate danger or thinking about harming yourself, get help now. Sri Lanka has no single unified emergency number: dial 119 for the Police Emergency Service, or 1990 for Suwa Seriya, the national ambulance and pre-hospital emergency service, free and answered 24/7. You can also go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. Whether calls to 119 are free is not published on the police page we checked. For readers outside Sri Lanka, there is a worldwide list of emergency numbers and a list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.
A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. The lines on this page are answered by trained volunteers, counsellors or, for the government lines, staff of the relevant ministry or institute. If you are not in Sri Lanka, the worldwide list is organised by country.
What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. Most of the lines below say nothing about cost, so we do not guess; where an organisation publishes that a line is free, that is stated beside it.
TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.
CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN SRI LANKA
Each number below was checked in September 2026 at the operating organisation's own page, or at an official Sri Lankan government page.
Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.
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Find Your TherapistEmergency numbers, and what each one is for
CCCline 1333, the national 24/7 crisis line
National Mental Health Helpline 1926
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, the national helpline
1929 Childline, for children and young people
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo branches (regional)
While you are waiting to be answered
If you are worried about someone else
Emergency numbers, and what each one is for
Sri Lanka does not use a single unified emergency number. The Sri Lanka Police publish their own emergency line separately from the national ambulance and pre-hospital emergency service.
Police Emergency Service: 119
Suwa Seriya, national ambulance and pre-hospital emergency care: 1990
The Sri Lanka Police describe 119 on their own site as "Immediate emergency response". Whether calls to 119 are free, and its hours, are not published on the page we checked. Suwa Seriya describes 1990 as providing "island-wide, free pre-hospital emergency care to all Sri Lankans", and its call centres "operated 24/7".
CCCline 1333, the national 24/7 crisis line
CCCline 1333 is run by the Courage Compassion Commitment Foundation, and answered, in the organisation's own words, by "trained Crisis supporters". It describes itself as offering "24/7 confidential crisis support, free from any phone across Sri Lanka". It is a member of Lifeline International and the International Association for Suicide Prevention. This line does not appear in the previous version of this page.
Tel: 1333
Hours: "24/7", in the organisation's own words.
Cost: toll-free, "free from any phone across Sri Lanka".
Languages: "Sinhala, Tamil, and English".
National Mental Health Helpline 1926
The National Mental Health Helpline is run by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a Ministry of Health institution based at Mulleriyawa New Town, the country's largest mental-health hospital. NIMH prints the number on its own site-wide contact block and carries the call to action "Call 1926" on its homepage.
NIMH does not publish hours, cost, languages or scope for this line anywhere on its own site. Claims elsewhere that it is free and available around the clock could not be confirmed on the operator's own pages, so this page does not repeat them.
Tel: 1926
Hours: not published by the operator.
Cost: not published by the operator.
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, the national helpline
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo is a government-approved charity founded in 1974, incorporated by Act of Parliament, and a registered member of Befrienders Worldwide. It is run by volunteers offering emotional support to people at risk of suicide, with ten centres around the country plus a rural programme and an outreach unit. In its own words: "At Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, there is Help, there is Hope." The organisation states that a caller "can choose to remain anonymous" and that "all information shared with us remains confidential"; it does not publish an exception to that beyond what is stated, so this page applies the general privacy note above rather than repeating the organisation's wording as an unqualified promise.
Tel: 0707 308 308
WhatsApp: 0767 520 620
Hours: not published for this national line. Sumithrayo publishes hours separately for each of its branches below; the founding branch answers 9am to 8pm daily, and other branches keep narrower hours.
Cost: free, "Our Services Are Free Of Charge" in the organisation's own words.
Dementia Hotline
The Dementia Hotline is a scoped support line published by the National Institute of Mental Health in the same contact block as the 1926 helpline above, for people affected by dementia and their families. NIMH publishes the number and nothing else about it.
Tel: +94 11 3140844
Hours: not published. Cost: not published.
1929 Childline, for children and young people
1929 is the national child-protection helpline, run by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA). It takes reports of abuse and, in the NCPA's own words, also supports "children who need emotional support and guidance". Any child, or an adult on a child's behalf, may call.
Tel: 1929
Hours: "at any time of the day, any day of the week" — the NCPA also calls it "the 24 hour Childline".
Cost: "free of charge", through any telecom provider, from anywhere in the country.
Languages: "Sinhala, Tamil, English".
1938 Women Helpline
1938 is the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs' own helpline for women, published on the ministry's site alongside the 1929 Childline above. The ministry publishes the number and its label and nothing else: no hours, cost, operator detail or scope statement, so none is stated here beyond what the ministry says.
Tel: 1938
Hours: not published. Cost: not published.
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo branches (regional)
Sumithrayo's own current branch list. Most branches open a few hours a day or a few days a week, so check the hours before you call. Eight of them do not appear in the previous version of this page.
Founding Branch, Colombo 07: 011 2696666 / 011 2692909 / 011 2683555 — "Daily 9 am to 8 pm (365 days)". No. 60B, Horton Place, Colombo 07. This branch answers three separate lines.
Outreach Branch, Colombo 05: 011 2674436 / 011 2682570 / 074 2345716 / 0777 723696 / 076 7429900 — weekdays and Saturday 9am to 4:30pm, Sunday 9am to 1pm. WhatsApp answered 4pm to 10pm. Thimbirigasyaya, Colombo 05.
Colombo South, Nugegoda: 011 2818860 / 0740 418860 / 0706 881883 — "Daily 9am-4pm". 176 Wickramasinharamaya, Nawala Road, Nugegoda.
Kandy: 081 2234806 / 081 2208890 / 0706 464416 — "Daily 9am-5pm". 693/4, Peradeniya Road, Mulgampola, Kandy.
Bandarawela: 057 2222662 — "Wed, Sat, Sun: 9am-1pm". 44/2, Badulla Road, Bindunuweva, Bandarawela.
Matale: 066 2223521 — "Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri: 9am-1pm". 803/C, Mandandawela, Matale.
Panadura: 038 2235291 — "Daily 9am-2pm". 578/3, Galle Road, Panadura.
Panduwasnuwara, rural programme: 037 2292419 / 037 2291718 — "Daily: 8:30-1pm (except Sundays)". Kurunegala Road, Hettipola.
Negombo: 031 2223322 — Wed, Thur, Sat: 9:30am-1:30pm
Mawanella: 035 5788330 / 0767 949922 — Tues, Thur, Sat, Sun: 9am-2pm
Kurunegala: 037 4931731 — Tues, Fri: 9am-1pm
Jaffna: 0779 008776 / 021 2223933 — Mon, Tues, Fri, Sat, Sun: 9am-1pm
Galle: 076 0904122 — Wed, Sat, Sun: 9am-1pm
Galewela: 070 5926133 — Wed, Sat, Sun: 9am-1pm
Lunugamvehara, rural programme: 047 2238080 — Weekdays 9:30am-4pm
While you are waiting to be answered
A line that is open can still be busy, and several of the numbers above answer only a few hours a day or a few days a week. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.
If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.
If waiting is not possible, dial 1990 for an ambulance, or go to a hospital emergency department. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.
If you are worried about someone else
Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.
Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.
If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they call one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.
Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. If you are worried about a child, 1929 Childline above answers at any time, and CCCline 1333 answers around the clock for anyone, including someone supporting a person in crisis.
For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.
Important: TherapyRoute does not provide medical advice. All content is for informational purposes and cannot replace consulting a healthcare professional. If you face an emergency, please contact a local emergency service. For immediate emotional support, consider contacting a local helpline.
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