Suicide & Crisis Lifeline a free, mental health network ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Mental health professionals in all 50 states celebrated last month as the nationwide 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline went live, providing a simple way for those struggling with emotional challenges to reach assistance.
The 988 Lifeline connects those seeking help via call, text or chat with a counselor to assist with issues related to addiction, anxiety, depression, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and more. The service also assists those who are concerned for the well-being of a loved one who may need emotional support.
The national network of local crisis centers provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the United States and has phone service in English and Spanish. The network also provides tele-interpreters service in more than 150 languages.
Marc Hurvitz, vice president of NAMI Atlantic/Cape May (namiacm.org, 800-950-6264), said it was a victory for mental health treatment in America.
“What it’s done is centralize services and responses together with training for mental health crisis intervention,” he said.
NAMI advocates for and works to improve the lives of people suffering a mental illness.
“Mental illnesses are brain disorders that are biologically based medical problems. Untreated, they can cause severe disturbances in thinking, feeling and relating,” Hurvitz said. “This results in substantially diminished capacity for dealing with the ordinary demands of life. Mental illness can affect persons of any age and occur in any family. They are not caused by bad parenting and not evidence of weakness of character.”
The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, federal legislation designating 988 as the three-digit dialing code for the Lifeline, was signed into law in October 2020.
Passage of the law was the outcome of many years of activism by the mental health community for the creation of an easy-to-remember telephone number that would increase accessibility of the Lifeline. The Federal Communications Commission had required telephone providers to make calling to the Lifeline via 988 accessible by July 16, 2022.
NAMI Atlantic/Cape May is the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a 501c3 nonprofit organization with a presence in all 50 states. New Jersey has 26 local affiliates, covering one or multiple counties.
Hurvitz said the change to a simple three-digit number is of extreme importance to those in crisis.
“It’s quick and there is an immediate response,” Hurvitz said. “The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was 10 digits and not conducive to a quick dial to get help. When in crisis, it is not that easy to remember 10 numbers; it’s not practical.”
Hurvitz, a retired attorney from Longport who sits on the board for NAMI New Jersey, said Cape May County Commissioner Jeffery Pierson assists the organization by supporting a resolution each May recognizing it as National Mental Health Awareness Month.
“This is an incredibly important program that allows people to talk to someone any time something is wrong,” Pierson said. “We want to let our residents know they can reach to 988 in their time of need so they don’t feel alone.”
Hurvitz said the 988 system has three facets — the call centers, mobile crisis teams and stabilization/post-crisis support.
He said the program is funded partially federally but mostly up to each state. New Jersey provided $12.8 million to establish the 988 dispatch system and setup and $16 million to establish mobile crisis teams.
According to Lifeline, numerous studies have shown that callers feel less suicidal, less depressed, less overwhelmed and more hopeful after speaking with a counselor.
“A direct three-digit line to trained counselors can open the door for millions of Americans to seek the help they need, while sending the message to the country that healing, hope and help are happening every day,” according to 988lifeline.org.
The universal dialing code is expected to:
• Connect a person in a mental health crisis to a trained counselor who can address their immediate needs and help connect them to ongoing care
• Reduce health care spending with more cost-effective early intervention
• Reduce use of law enforcement, public health and other safety resources
• Meet the growing need for crisis intervention at scale
• Help end stigma toward those seeking or accessing mental health care
Hurvitz said whether calling 988 or 911, it is important to inform the dispatcher that the call is related to mental health. That way, he said, the proper assistance can be sent to the scene.
He said mobile response teams of first-responders with crisis-intervention training are being established throughout the state.
“They know where to get support for the individual in crisis, what to do with repeat individuals and how to get post-crisis stabilization in place,” Hurvitz said.
The former National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255, with more than 200 crisis centers in operation since 2005, will remain active. Visit 988lifeline.org for more information.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff