988 is the new number to call or text, for people needing mental health crisis support. Starting Saturday the hotline will be available nationwide. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
Sue Abderholden is the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Minnesota. She hopes this service will connect people with the appropriate care.
“When it’s a fire, we send out the firetruck,” says Abderholden. “When it’s a heart attack you send out the EMT’s. So we want to be able to say when someone’s having a mental health crisis, we send out the mobile mental health crisis team.”
People can also dial 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. A trained counselor is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“It is an easy number to remember versus, you know, 1-800 and all of the other digits that follow,” Aberholden explains. “And so we just want to make it easy for people to access care services, particularly around suicide.”
Abderholden is hoping the new number will route people to mental health services instead of a police response.
According to 988lifeline.org, they're "committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness."
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $100 million to states and territories to strengthen crisis call center services in advance of the 988 transition.
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