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Last week I talked about September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Within this month is 988 Day—a day to make sure everyone knows about the 24/7 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Simply calling or texting 988 or chatting 988lifeline.org will connect a person in crisis to compassionate care and support for any mental health or substance use-related concern. Anyone—a person in crisis, or someone supporting a person in crisis—can reach 988 in the United States through any land line, cell phone, and voice-over internet device.
988 Lifeline is private. When a person contacts the 988 Lifeline, they don’t have to say who or where they are to get support. The 988 Lifeline crisis counselor knows only the person’s phone number if they call or text, or their IP address if they use chat. No one is required to provide any personal information to receive the help from the 988 Lifeline
What happens when someone calls? They are connected with a crisis counselor who listens, tries to understand how the problem is affecting the person, provides support, and shares resources. 988 Lifeline crisis counselors are trained to help reduce the intensity of a situation for the person seeking help and connect them to additional local resources to support their wellbeing, or give someone who cares about a person in distress information to guide them to local help.
Anyone can find themselves in a time of crisis. So remember the number 988. If you are in crisis, you will get a trained person to talk to, in a safe place for help. You’ll get information on local resources that can help you over the longer term. You won’t get judgment, you’ll get caring support and guidance. If someone you love is in crisis, you can call and get information on how to help.
A person dies by suicide every 11 minutes. Let’s all remember 988. It will save lives.
To learn more, you can go to the 988 Day webpage of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.