‘It really does save lives’: Millions reached out to 988 crisis lifeline in past 2 years
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Key takeaways:
- HHS has invested nearly $1.5 billion into the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
- The lifeline has tailored options for Spanish speakers, veterans, American Sign Language users and LGBTQI+ individuals.
Since the launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in 2022, counselors have answered more than 10 million calls, texts and chats from people seeking help for suicidal thoughts and mental health crises, according to HHS officials.
During a press conference, HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said the lifeline “has become one of the most effective first-line responses that we have to help individuals who feel alone and without options.”
She added, “10 million calls, texts and chat messages have been answered, resulting in many, many, many, many thousands of lives saved.”
HHS has invested nearly $1.5 billion into the lifeline, according to an agency press release. It has lines that are tailored to people who speak Spanish, veterans, American Sign Language (ASL) users and the LGBTQI+ community. Since these lines were added to the 988 lifeline in 2023, there have been about 20,000 chats and texts with Spanish speakers, more than 475,000 texts, calls and chats with LGBTQI+ individuals and approximately 20,000 videophone contacts with ASL users.
Among all contacts over the past 2 years, about 1.7 million were texts, according to the release. In the past year, HHS reported a 51% increase in texts and a 34% increase in calls, with support provided by more than 200 contact centers nationwide.
“Too many Americans, often young people, feel like they are without options,” Palm said. “We have more work to do. Not everyone can access the support they need. In other cases, stigma prevents them from reaching out at all. But 988 is available to everyone. Having someone on the other end of the line to listen and provide support makes a difference. It really does save lives.”
Reference:
- Now in its second year, 988 lifeline continues to help millions of people. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/07/16/second-year-988-lifeline-continues-help-millions-people.html. Published July 16, 2024. Accessed July 16, 2024.
Perspective
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On the 2-year anniversary of the launch of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Biden-Harris administration must be applauded for its leadership in providing this critical and lifesaving resource to individuals across our nation. Our nation is in the middle of a mental health crisis, and 988 can be the difference between life and death for individuals in crisis needing immediate access to mental health services.
However, one key limitation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is that 988 does not currently have geolocation capabilities, which means that when an individual calls 988, they are connected with mental health professionals located in the state or region of their phone number’s registered area code, rather than where they are physically located when experiencing a crisis.
In other words, unlike our nation’s 911 emergency system that can determine the precise location of an individual when they use their phone to call for emergency services, when a person calls 988, there is no way for the 988 system to know where a person is currently located. That means that if an individual with a California cell phone number has a mental health crisis while currently in New York, when they use their cell phone to call 988, they will be connected with mental health professionals and resources in California, instead of New York.
Since individuals often maintain the same cell phone number, despite moving from one state to another, and individuals may also have a mental health crisis while traveling to a different region of the country or may not know the exact location of where they are having a crisis, the inability of the 988 system to know where a caller is located when having a mental health crisis presents a barrier to care.
College students are another large population that may be disproportionately impacted by 988’s lack of geolocation capabilities. Since college campuses are full of students from across the country who often maintain a cell phone number from their home state/region and college students experience high rates of depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide and general psychological distress, when college students are away from home and call 988 when having a mental health crisis, they will not be able to access local mental health crisis services.
It is, therefore, imperative to provide the policies, infrastructure and funding needed for 988 to develop geolocation capabilities so that individuals in crisis can immediately access critical mental health services in the location where they currently are when they call for help.
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Press Conference
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