Back in September, 2022, we posted about the new, three-digit suicide and crisis lifeline, where anyone in the US can access help by dialing 988. Since that time, contacts to the lifeline have more than doubled, especially among youth and young adults.
In the 10 states that had the most 988 uptake, an 18.2% reduction from expected suicide mortality was recorded, while in the 10 states with the least uptake (23.6% increase in monthly calls) a 10.6% reduction was recorded.
The study was published April 22 as a research letter in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Its authors acknowledge the difficulty of attributing the reduction in suicides in the past three years only to the hotline, but they found a number of ways to check their conclusions, including studying suicide rates in the UK, which has not made any changes to suicide prevention instruments in the same period. There, no deviation from the expected suicide rates was found.
The authors also looked at suicide among people over age 65, who are less likely to use a hotline, and found some reduction, about 4.5%, which is much smaller than the reduction found among youth and young adults. While these may not be the only factors influencing the reduction in suicide, the results are robust enough to support a strong recommendation to continue the 988 program, to fund it at higher levels in low-uptake states, and to encourage the use of the hotline among all populations.
Whatever the reason, a reduction in suicide deaths is obviously cause for celebration. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among youth and young adults, and a widely supported, multifaceted campaign to reach all suicidal persons should be a priority at all levels.
If you are considering suicide, and you are in the USA, call or text to the 988 Lifeline. Trained counselors (not bots) are available 24/7 to help all callers. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
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