Are you or someone you care about experiencing a mental health crisis? Call – or text – 9-8-8. Doing so will link you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, without having to use the current 10-digit number. As reported on NPR.org, the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is designed to be an easy-to-remember way to connect with a trained mental health professional.

“If you are willing to turn to someone in your moment of crisis, 988 will be there,” said Xavier Becerra, the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “988 won’t be a busy signal, and 988 won’t put you on hold. You will get help.”

Why is this new number a big deal?

988 fills a big gap in mental health crisis care 

Currently, most people experiencing a mental health emergency end up dialing 911. The 988 number is designed to be a safer, more effective alternative.

According to NPR, “The problem is that 911 wasn’t set up to address mental health needs. Either callers end up in a frenetic emergency room, waiting for hours and sometimes days to get care, or they end up interacting with law enforcement, which can lead to tragedy or trauma.”

Police are simply not trained to deal with mental health emergencies, and often the law enforcement techniques they use are the absolute wrong approach. Psychologist Benjamin Miller, president of Well Being Trust, notes, “Unlike other medical emergencies, mental health crises overwhelmingly result in a law enforcement response.” Examining police data shows that “about 20% of their total staff time is spent responding and transporting individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis.”

As result, in 2021 alone, more than “2 million people with serious mental illness were booked in jail.” Further, nearly 25% of fatal police shootings by the police in recent years have involved people with mental illness.

988 is designed to reimage the response to mental health crises.

988 connects callers to a network of trained counselors

Calling 988 connects callers to a network of over 200 local crisis call centers nationwide. The current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 – will remain in existence, but calls will route to 988 once it launches on July 16, 2022.

A trained crisis counselor will respond. If a local center is too busy to answer right away, the call will get rerouted to one of 16 national backup centers.

The current lifeline is remarkably effective. Chuck Ingoglia, CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, notes, “We know that close to 90% of people who call get what they need from the phone call.” The remaining 10% of callers may require additional support or in-person care, and trained counselors at the lifeline work to connect them to the support they need.

Serious federal funds are backing the launch of 988

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has always operated on a shoestring budget. Although more investment is required, that is beginning to change.

“Earlier this year, Congress finally started appropriating additional dollars to provide support to call centers so that they could hire dedicated staff to work on the 988 number,” says Ingoglia, of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

The Department of Health and Human Services reports that over $400 million — up from $24 million — has gone toward boosting the capacity of local and backup call centers, including a subnetwork for Spanish speakers.

And that’s significant, says John Draper, of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

“A number of centers are [now] being funded in ways that they’ve never received funds before, so it’s very encouraging,” he says.

The investment is already yielding dividends. Draper reports he’s already seeing an impact on the lifeline’s ability to respond to those who reach out. For example, “right now we’re answering over 90% of our chats,” adding,  “And this time last year it was closer to 20 to 23%.”

More work is required

Despite the encouraging start, much work lies ahead. Significant state-level funding will be required as well as the federal commitment. A 2020 law allows states to pass laws to tack a small fee to cellphone bills to permanently fund 988 mental health services. So far only four states have proposed legislation to help fund the lifeline, with two more in the early stages of the process.

Nevertheless, mental health advocates are encouraged. 988 represents a new era. As Colleen Carr, director of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention explains, “The transition to 988 has come to represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revisit and reconceptualize how crisis services are resourced and delivered in communities across the country.”

It’s an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

Read the full article here.

Chatterjee, Rhitu. “The new 988 crisis number is about to launch. Here’s what to know.” NPR, 15 July 2022, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/15/1111316589/988-suicide-hotline-number.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash