About the 988 Lifeline and the South Carolina Response

Too many people are facing suicidal crisis or mental health distress without the support they need. The mental health crisis in the U.S. is real – and urgent. 988 exists to be a support to people experiencing distress.

In 2021 and 2022:

• • The U.S. had one death by suicide about every 11 minutes
  • For people aged 10-14 and 25-34 years, suicide was the second-leading cause of death
  • More than 950,000 youth aged 12-17 and 1.6 million adults attempted suicide
  • About 107,000 people died from drug overdose

There is hope. Every day, the 988 Lifeline offers vital support to thousands of people facing suicidal thoughts or struggling with mental health challenges. Since the three-digit number launch in 2022, the 988 Lifeline has received over 14 million contacts and it’s growing each year.

988 Lifeline History

2001 – Congress appropriates funding for a suicide prevention hotline and awards a competitive grant to establish a network of crisis centers that can answer calls from their local communities.

2005 – The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline launched with the 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) number. They received 46,000 calls in the first year.

2006 – The Lifeline added a Spanish language subnetwork (now “Press 2”).

2007 – SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and the VA partner to access the Veterans Crisis Line (“Press 1”).

2013 – An English only chat service becomes available at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

2015 – The Disaster Distress Helpline is added into the Lifeline network.

2018 – The National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act becomes law requiring that a feasibility study is done into designating a three-digit dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system.

2020 – The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 becomes law. It requires the FCC to designate 988 as the universal number a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis. Text service is added to the Lifeline. The Lifeline grows to 3.3 million calls, chats, and texts.

2022 – The country transitions to 988, an easy-to-remember, three-digit dialing code. Around 200 local, independently owned and operated crisis centers operate in the Lifeline network. All telecommunication providers activate text to 988.

2023 – The 988 Lifeline launches specialized service for LGBTQI+ youth and young adults (“Press 3” for calls or text “Pride” to 988). The Spanish-language text and chat was added to the 988 Lifeline (text “ayuda” to 988). The Lifeline answers nearly 5 million contacts in its first year.