As our nation continues grappling with its ongoing psychological well being pandemic, a brand new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline quantity—988—is launching July 16 to help these fighting suicidal ideation.

988 is the brand new designation for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (which can be being rebranded because the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). According to its website, the lifeline was launched in 2005 and is a community of 200 native disaster facilities scattered throughout the United States. The lifeline is accessible 24/7 for these experiencing an emotional disaster, and this new quantity is mannequined after the easy “911.” The simplicity of the quantity might streamline the method of reaching out for assist, particularly after the service’s authentic (and longer) quantity noticed elevated public consideration over the previous few years.

When rapper Logic launched his music “1-800-273-8255″ with Alessia Cara and Khalid in 2017, it struck a chord with the American public: The song charted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The phone number that makes up the song’s title is the original designation for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and after the song caught on, it broke down the stigma of reaching out for support during your darkest moment, and demonstrated the need for the service by bringing the number to the public’s attention—the lifeline saw a 50% increase in calls after Logic’s emotional performance of “1-800″ on the 2017 Video Music Awards. The uptick in consciousness helped these experiencing suicidal ideation get linked to an operator, and switching to 988 might lead to an identical impact.

988 was designated as the brand new quantity for nationwide psychological well being help in July 2020 by the Federal Communications Commission, and was signed into regulation in October 2020. 988 begins its rollout tomorrow—the earlier 1-800 quantity will still be available for use—however not each state is on board, as solely 21 states have allotted funding to help the quantity based on the National Academy for State Health Policy, and Politico reports that federal well being officers are involved that states might not be capable of meet the demand. That’s an issue as a result of America is hurting. Over 45,000 Americans died by suicide in 2020 based on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 12.2 million Americans significantly contemplated demise by suicide that very same 12 months. 

I’ve known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline twice in my life, and approachable and accessible sources like this are part of the explanation why these fighting melancholy and suicidal ideation are in a position to proceed on. It’s necessary to notice that whereas this rebranded lifeline won’t utterly eradicate the nation’s psychological well being disaster, it’s a piece of a bigger push to handle that disaster.