The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a phone, chat, and text service that provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or mental health related distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the U.S.
Behind the scenes, it’s a national network of around 200 local, independent, and state crisis centers staffed with skilled, trained crisis counselors. The Lifeline maintains a number of centers within the network that also back up local crisis centers in answering phone calls and that also answer chats and texts. A few Lifeline centers also provide direct Spanish language support. There is one network administrator that oversees the Lifeline through a competitive grant with SAMHSA.
Simply calling or texting 988 or chatting 988lifeline.org will connect a person in crisis to compassionate care and support for any mental health or substance use-related distress. Anyone—a
person in crisis, or someone supporting a person in crisis—can reach 988 in the United States through any land line, cell phone, and voice-over internet device.
Early Warning Signs & Symptoms
Not sure if you or someone you know is living with mental health problems? Experiencing one or more of the following feelings or behaviors can be an early warning sign of a problem:
Eating or sleeping too much or too little
Pulling away from people and usual activities
Having low or no energy
Feeling numb or like nothing matters
Having unexplained aches and pains
Feeling helpless or hopeless
Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared
Yelling or fighting with family and friends
Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
Having persistent thoughts and memories you can't get out of your head
Hearing voices or believing things that are not true
Thinking of harming yourself or others
Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school
Do you think someone you know may have a mental health problem? Talking about mental health can be difficult. Learn about common mental health myths and facts and read about ways to help you get the conversation started
To learn more about SAMHSA check out their website below:
Website: https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/988