It’s National Suicide Prevention Month, and it’s been just over two months since the transition to 988, the three-digit number that is the Suicide and Crisis hotline.
Data just released shows the resource is already helping more people, and connecting them to help even faster.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released data that shows a 45% increase in the number of people reaching out compared to the same time last year. The 45% increase represents 152,000 calls to 988.
Data also shows that there has been a big reduction in response times from last year to this year. What used to be 2½ minutes to get a response, is now 42 seconds.
