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Abstract
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Every 11 minutes, someone in the US dies by suicide. That grim statistic, from 2021, reflects a 36% increase in suicide rates over the previous 2 decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It's a tragic outcome of the nation's mental health crisis.
In 2021, suicide was one of the 9 leading causes of mortality in the US among people aged 10 to 64 years, CDC data show. Provisional 2022 data indicate that there were nearly 50 000 deaths by suicide last year, approximately 2.6% more than in 2021. One bright spot: the suicide rate for 10- to 24-year-olds appeared to decrease in 2022. But it increased for people older than 24 years.
To improve access to crisis services, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline converted from a 1-800 number to a 3-digit dialing code in July 2022 and ramped up its capacity to handle calls. Since this transition, the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, where the old 1-800 number is now rerouted, has fielded more calls, texts, and online chats, and has responded to them more quickly. But despite such improvements, some states struggle with keeping up answer rates, and many people aren't aware of the services provided--assuming they even know 988 exists.
A Call to Action
The Lifeline's origins date back to 2001, when Congress appropriated funding for a suicide prevention hotline. Suicide rates among children and young adults had increased throughout the previous 2 decades, which may have spurred politicians to take action, noted psychiatrist Olusola Ajilore, MD, PhD, MS, who directs the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program in The University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.
In 2005, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the nonprofit organization Vibrant Emotional Health won a competitive grant to oversee it. The Lifeline's original number, 1-800-273-TALK (8255), received about 46 000 calls that year. By 2007, services included an option for Spanish speakers and an extension for veterans.
A decade later, the Lifeline reportedly answered more than 2 million calls in 2017 alone. Suicide rates were rising at the same time, Ajilore pointed out, so it's difficult to gauge the program's success. But that year, the Lifeline received a surge of public awareness--thanks to a rapper.
"I think the most attention the original Lifeline got was through the song by Logic titled '1-800-273-8255,' which was estimated to have saved 245 lives during a 1-month period," Ajilore wrote in an email to JAMA...
Language: en |