September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness month and serves as a reminder to teens across the Las Vegas Valley to be aware of their mental health and regularly check in with their friends and loved ones.
There is also an important resource to be aware of: the abbreviated national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (the “988 Lifeline”) that started on July 16, 2022. As a result, anyone in the United States can call or text 988 or chat to 988lifeline.org for either themselves or someone they are worried about in connection with any kind of emotional or mental health-related distress, including thoughts of suicide or a substance use crisis. The 988 Lifeline offers trained crisis counselors that are available 24 hours a day, 7-days a week. The hope is that the 988 Lifeline becomes as recognizable and as easy-to-remember as 911.
The 988 Awareness Project is a nonprofit organization based in Las Vegas whose mission is to promote awareness of this important resource, with a focus on teens, young adults and military veterans. Check out their website (the988awarenessproject.org) and follow their IG (@988project) and Twitter (@988awareness) for additional information about the 988 Lifeline and their efforts to promote awareness of the 988 Lifeline, as well as local events focused on suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Recent studies have found that, after speaking to the trained 988 Lifeline crisis counselors, most callers feel (1) less depressed, (2) less suicidal, (3) less overwhelmed, and (4) more hopeful. And, significantly, about 98% of those who contact the 988 Lifeline are helped without the involvement of 911.
The 988 Lifeline is an important resource for teens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) recently released a Youth Risk Behavior Study (the “YRB Study”) showing significant negative trends in teen mental health, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts from 2011 to 2021. In 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death for those 10-14 years old and those 15-24 years old.
The CDC YRB Study also showed that 22% of high school students reported having seriously considered suicide in the last year and 10% of high school students had attempted suicide in the last year. In female high school students, those who seriously considered suicide went from 19% in 2011 to 30% in 2021, and those attempted suicide rates went from 10% in 2011 to 13% in 2021.
Even if a teen is not experiencing poor mental health or thoughts of suicide themselves, many are friends with and confidants to other teens who are suffering. These friends often struggle with how to help and whether/when they should contact a parent or counselor without breaching trust. The 988 Lifeline is also a great resource for these friends to help them navigate the crisis that their friend or loved one is facing.
Since 988 does not yet have the same instant recall as 911, it’s understandable if you can’t immediately remember this number. If you ever need or want to call or text the 988 Lifeline in the future, just remember to look on the back of your school student ID. Starting October 1, 2023, all public and charter schools in Nevada are required to put the 988 Lifeline on the back of all school student IDs.
During National Suicide Prevention Awareness month, please help get the word out about the 988 Lifeline. Although more than 5 million contacts were made in its first year alone, nearly 2 million more than to the old 10-digit number in the previous year, a Summer 2023 NAMI/Ipsos poll found that only 17% of Americans are familiar with 988 (and only 4% of Americans say that they are “very familiar” with 988).