It’s been over a year since the nationwide launch of the 988 Lifeline as an alternative to calling 911 for mental health emergencies. Many reports indicate that there are good results in terms of awareness of the lifeline and use of it. However, many say that more awareness could be helpful. Moreover, some flaws have been identified that are important to be aware of. If you find yourself or a loved one in a mental health crisis, you can still call 988 or 911.
What Is The 988 Lifeline?
In case you’re not aware of it, 988 is the new number that you can dial if you want to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. They also assist with other mental health crisis situations. Many people are afraid of calling 911 in such situations for a variety of valid reasons. As a result, it’s important to know that 988 exists. Learn more about it here.
Awareness Is Good … But Could Be Better
Do people know that they can call 988 as needed? Some people do. In fact, reports indicate that those people who need it most do have awareness of this option. However, there’s room for growth in overall public awareness of the 988 Lifeline, according to recent reports.
US News reported on recent studies about the reach of the 988 Lifeline, finding that of those surveyed, people with serious and moderate psychological distress were more aware of it than those without distress. This tracks, of course, since these are the people who need to know about this resource most of all. Moreover, it’s those with distress who reported using the Lifeline themselves, making them significantly more likely to do so than people without mental health distress. Again, that tracks.
Why Isn’t Awareness Even Better?
According to US News and others reporting on the recently released 988 Lifeline research, one of the key reasons that awareness isn’t stronger, especially among those without distress, is that states have been releasing news about the hotline slowly. This has been a deliberate move to make sure that the system is working and that it isn’t overwhelmed by calls before it’s ready to handle them. There’s some debate about whether or not this is necessary. The overall conclusion is that states and the representatives who share this information can and probably should move forward with raising greater awareness among the general public about the option to call 988 instead of 911 when dealing with a mental health crisis.
Concerns That People Aren’t Satisfied with the 988 Lifeline
The biggest concern to come out of the recent research and reporting is that the number of people who have called the Lifeline and say that they would use it again is smaller than expected. CNN explains that “less than a third of people with severe psychological distress who had already tried the lifeline were very likely to use it again.” At this time, we don’t have information about the reason for that, but it will be important to study that moving forward to make sure that the Lifeline is serving people the way that it should.
Some of the potential reasons that people are reporting that they wouldn’t use the service again:
- They don’t feel like they’ll have another mental health crisis that requires it, therefore calling again wouldn’t be necessary. It would be worth exploring whether the percentage of people saying that they wouldn’t use it again is similar to the number of people who said the same thing after using the prevention hotline before it was the 988 number.
- They weren’t satisfied that the experience helped them. This could be addressed through additional training and resources for the 988 Lifeline workers as well as addressing any other specific needs. CNN, quoting Jonathan Purtle, an associate professor at the New York University School of Global Public Health who led the new research, explains: “Pre-988, the lifeline existed but marketed as the Suicide Prevention Lifeline for a much narrower type of caller,” Purtle said. “988 is a whole different animal. It’s more callers, a wide array of challenges, and one would argue, probably, that different types of training need to be in place to meet people where they’re at when they call.”
- There might be unanticipated challenges in reaching the right people using this number. For example, people in LA who have retained their phone numbers from other states they lived in before moving may seek to speak with someone in California but get routed to their old state instead. See here for more info on that.
Have you tried the 988 Lifeline? What has your experience been? We would love to share true stories in order to broaden awareness about the pros and cons of using this tool.