The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, offers 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use, and/or mental health crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. People can also call, text or chat 988 if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.
The 988 Lifeline is a direct connection to immediate support and resources for anyone in crisis.
The 988 Lifeline responds 24/7 to calls, chats or texts from anyone who needs support for suicidal, mental health, and/or substance use crisis, and connects those in need with trained crisis counselors. There are many reasons that people connect with the 988 Lifeline. Some examples in addition to thoughts of suicide are feeling overwhelmed with anxiety, sexual orientation worries, drinking too much, drug use, feeling depressed, mental and physical illness, loneliness, trauma, relationships, and economic worries.
Yes. 988 is the easy-to-remember number that reaches what is commonly referred to as the 988 Lifeline—a network of more than 200 state and local crisis contact centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and administered by Vibrant Emotional Health.
Yes. Anyone who needs suicide-, mental health- or substance use-related crisis support, or who has a loved one in crisis, can connect with a trained counselor by calling, chatting, or texting 988 (as long as telephone, cellular or internet services are available).
When someone calls 988, they first hear a greeting message. You are given choices of who to connect with in the greeting; the 988 Lifeline has specially trained counselors for Veterans (through the Veterans Crisis Line, operated by the Veteran’s Administration), Spanish speakers and LGBTQI+ youth and young adults.
Your call is then routed to one of the national networks or a local 988 Lifeline network crisis center based on your selections and then based on your phone’s area code.
A trained counselor answers the phone, listens to you, works to understand how your problem is affecting you, provides support, and shares resources, if needed. If your local 988 center is unable to take your call, you are automatically routed to a national backup crisis center. All these services are available in English and Spanish. The 988 Lifeline uses Language Line Solutions to provide translation to callers in more than 240 additional languages.
Yes, the 988 Lifeline works. Numerous studies have shown that most Lifeline callers are significantly more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful after speaking to a Lifeline crisis counselor. 988 Lifeline crisis counselors are trained to help reduce the intensity of a situation for the person seeking help and connect them to additional local resources, as needed, to support their wellbeing.
About 98% of people who reach out to the 988 Lifeline are helped by the crisis counselor, resources shared, or community connections made (without involvement of 911) during the call, text, or chat.
People using the 988 Lifeline are not required to provide any payment or insurance information to receive support. However, standard data rates from telecommunication mobile carriers may apply to those who text to the 988 Lifeline.
If monetary assistance is needed for communications needs due to data rates, please see www.fcc.gov/lifeline-consumers for more information.
The people answering the 988 Lifeline are located in more than 200 local and state-run crisis centers. They will listen, support, assess your situation, share resources, and make community connections. Average wait times can vary based on usage surges and other factors.
Yes, anyone located in a U.S. state, territory or tribal land with access to telephone, cellular, or internet services can connect to a trained counselor by calling, chatting, or texting 988.
Veterans, Service Members, and their families can call 988 and press option 1. To learn more, please visit www.veteranscrisisline.net/about/what-is-988. This process is the same as it has been in the past for Veterans; however, it’s now simpler with the shortened 988 number.
The 988 Lifeline was established to improve both accessibility of mental health services and to meet the nation’s growing suicide and related crisis care needs. The 988 Lifeline provides easier access to mental health crisis care through a 200+ network of crisis call, text, and chat centers, separate from the public safety purposes of 911, where the focus is on dispatching emergency medical services, fire, and police, as needed.
SAMHSA is working towards a long-term vision of strong coordination between the two services so people in crisis get to the most appropriate care needed in that moment. SAMHSA is actively working with 911 counterparts at the federal, state, and local levels as our country continues to improve crisis care systems.
Currently, a small percentage of 988 Lifeline callers require activation of the 911 system, and most of those are done with the consent and cooperation of the caller. This occurs when there is an imminent risk to someone’s life that cannot be reduced during the 988 Lifeline call. In these cases, the crisis counselor shares information with 911 that is crucial to saving the caller’s life.
The primary goal of the 988 Lifeline is to provide support for people in suicidal crisis or mental health-related distress in the moments they need it most and in a manner that is person-centered. The vast majority of those seeking help from the 988 Lifeline do not require any additional interventions at that moment. Currently, fewer than two percent of Lifeline calls require a connection to emergency services like 911. While some safety and health issues may warrant a response from law enforcement and/or Emergency Medical Services (namely when a suicide attempt is in progress), the 988 Lifeline coordinated response is intended to promote stabilization and care in the least restrictive manner.
Yes. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) youth and young adults under the age of 25 who want to connect with a counselor specifically focused on meeting their needs can call 988 and select option 3, text “Y” to 988 or access the service via chat.
The 988 Lifeline provides an easy-to-remember way for people who are struggling or in crisis to reach out for help. This is an opportunity to strengthen and expand the Lifeline network and to build a robust crisis response system that links people in crisis to community-based providers who can deliver a full range of crisis care services, if needed (like mobile crisis teams or stabilization centers). This more robust system will be essential to meeting crisis care needs across the nation.