By: Tianhao Chen

On Saturday, July 16th, new number 988 went live for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. This new number is in response to the growing problem of mental illness in the U.S.

In the past, this crisis line was underfunded, relying on nonprofit call centers to operate it. For the first half of 2022, of 500,000 texts received, less than half were answered. During that same period, of 1 million phone calls received, around 18 percent weren’t answered, according to The New York Times.

This past year, the government has invested over $400 million to revitalize the Lifeline. Part of the money will go to help create more phone banks, with a goal of increasing the total number by 20. Another goal for this 988 hotline is for counselors to be able to have callers reach mental health personnel and centers.

The revamp of the Lifeline comes at a time where mental illness is increasing, especially with younger people. In 2020 alone, suicide would take someone’s life every 11 minutes, and it was the 2nd highest cause of death for people between 10-14 years old and 25-34 years old.

However, there are concerns for this revamped Lifeline. A main concern is that due to a staff shortage at many call centers, they may not be able to handle the increase in calls as a result of the new phone number. In addition, according to a RAND Corporation survey, over half of public health officials who oversaw the rollout didn’t believe that communities were ready.

Moreover, there are concerns whether 988 will continue to be funded due to former President Trump signing a law letting states support the funding. Jennifer Piver, executive director of Mental Health America of Greenville County, expressed concerns of insufficient funding from the federal government in the future. “[A]s the word gets out, you know, coping with that growth is not something that we’re prepared for financially in terms of staff.” The center answers over 80 percent of calls in the state, but if funding remains the same, we could see that dip pretty quickly to 50, 40, even 30 percent,” she said.

However, many remain optimistic on the outcome of 988. When talking about the Lifeline, Preston Mitchum, advocacy director at the Trevor Project, said, “[p]eople’s lives are on the line, so we have to get there. We will get there.”

Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/us/988-mental-health-lifeline.html