‘988’ suicide hotline sees growth in first year
In the year since its launch, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has provided millions of Americans with timely, lifesaving care, according to a press release issued by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
“We’ve seen incredible progress in 1 year thanks to the efforts of the people staffing the lifeline, the hundreds of organizations nationwide connected to the lifeline providing lifesaving mental health and substance use care, partners in the private sector and bipartisan allies in Congress,” Chuck Ingoglia, president and CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, said in the release. “Wait times are down significantly, and more people than ever before are reaching out for help and getting the care they need. Yet a lot of work remains to ensure that our crisis care system provides people in every community with not only someone to call, but someone to respond and somewhere to go.”
Looking ahead, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing plans to further establish the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model to ensure comprehensive crisis services are available to those in need of them, according to the release.
Furthermore, the mental health and substance use care workforce will require increases and diversification to keep up with the current increase in 988 calls, texts and chats.
“It took many years for 911’s infrastructure to become what it is today,” Ingoglia said. “With enough commitment to growing our crisis care infrastructure and the mental health and substance use care workforce, I know we can meet that standard and make 988 equally efficient and effective.”
Perspective
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The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has been available for 1 year, and, yes, lives are being saved. Yet more must be done to ensure continuity of care to sustain the crisis help and to provide availability of ongoing mental health treatment services. Important and essential as it is, 988 can’t do it alone, as it must be understood within the framework of a crisis care system. I was stuck by the necessity to promote the 988 service, as general public awareness is relatively low. As the founder of the Hold On Campaign to Prevent Suicide, might I suggest the internationally award-winning music videos, “Don’t Give Up,” “Lift You Up” and “Hold On” which all speak to suicide prevention and include the 988 number. These songs can be shared directly with those struggling with suicidal thoughts and downloaded to mental health organization websites. See www.holdoncampaign.org for more information.