August 23rd, 2023 by WCBC Radio

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline marked its first anniversary recently.  In the first year, over 5 million calls, chats, and texts were answered by 200 call centers across the country.  Standardizing the dialing to 988 for the nation made connecting to a crisis counselor more simple and available to both landline and cell users. Dr. Emmy Betz of the University of Colorado explained that the 988 line is for more than those who are contemplating suicide…

Unfortunately, according to Dr. Betz, the awareness of the Lifeline number has not caught on and more needs to be done to promote the service, especially to youth and Veterans who may be experiencing issues with nowhere to turn…