One year into the new 988 campaign & there are some encouraging numbers to report. So many feared “it wouldn’t be ready.” And…maybe it wasn’t “fully” ready, but the awareness that comes w a simple emergency number for mental health: 988, like we learned abt in schools for other emergencies: 911, is huge.
Some of the positives:
– The new 988 received nearly 5 million calls/texts in its 1st yr, up 35% over last yr’s long #.
– Avg wait times fell from 2 min 39 seconds to 41 seconds.
– Over the last yr the centers answered more than 665,000 texts specifically, an 1,135% increase from the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (texts are obv more comfortable for many).
– Funding has been given to more than 200 call centers arnd the country.
Some of the challenges that remain:
– Most call centers still have open postings for staff shortages.
– Latest research by Pew indicates only 18% of Americans know the # exists (hmmm, sounds awfully similar to that “1 in 5 w mental illness” stat that keeps this topic reactive & binary, & makes 80% believe this topic doesn’t apply to them).
– Mobile crisis teams to send out to those who ask for help are in most states, but only 17 states have teams avail state-wide.
Those are some of the strengths of 988 & areas that need to grow.
Most encouraging to me in this article: Literally the first story shared is a trauma story – not simply abt a label. It’s abt a woman who was previously abused, feeling disassociated, speaking w someone on the line who was able to calm her down & talk her back into functioning again – feeling like she was “back in her body.”
Every time we post abt 988, we’re going to include the LIFE Saver first-person suicide prevention plan(➡️slide), bc it’s a simple “stop, drop, & roll” of suicide prevention that includes 988 as a step. Have tagged partners we’ve included on this initiative. As the line is looking for awareness – so too are we all trying to get awareness out on this tool that compliments it. Please consider sharing 🙏.