Mid-July marks the second anniversary of the launch of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline as a nationwide resource offering 24/7 support to people in suicidal distress. Since that time, it has fielded 9.5 million calls, texts and chats. Awareness of the system, which encompasses more than 200 local crisis centers, has grown steadily. Few Americans understand it the way they understand the 911 emergency number, Governing.com reports. In a recent poll by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), nearly 7 in 10 respondents said they were “aware” of 988, but fewer than 1 in 4 were at least “somewhat familiar” with it. About half didn’t know when a situation would be serious enough to contact the Lifeline. “As we look to year three, NAMI’s new poll shows that we’re only scratching the surface on getting the word out about this life-saving resource,” said NAMI's Daniel Gillison Jr. in announcing the poll’s findings.
Suicide is not among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. The picture is very different for young people. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death (after unintentional injury) for people ages 10-14 and 25-34, and third (after homicide) for those between 15 and 24. The rates are even higher among LGBTQ+ youth, who are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. According to nonprofit The Trevor Project, 4 in 10 LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered taking their own lives in the past year. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which supports 988, has created a subnetwork of counselors specifically trained to help these young people. Text and chat services in Spanish were introduced in 2023.