Groundbreaking Developments in Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Service Provision

By Anita Everett M.D. DFAPA, Director, Center for Mental Health Services

988: The New National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Number
The past several years have marked several groundbreaking developments with respect to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK). In fiscal year (FY) 2001, SAMHSA awarded a competitive, discretionary grant to establish a network of crisis centers that would respond to crisis calls from their local communities, to ensure those crisis center counselors were trained, and that all crisis centers in the network met standards for accreditation. A single national number was established, which in 2005 became the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline; 800-273-8255 (TALK)). The Lifeline answered more than 2.1 million calls and 234,671 chats in FY 2020.