The two Iowa crisis centers which handle calls from the National 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline saw 142% more contacts statewide this year compared to last year.
Emily Blomme is the CEO of Foundation 2 Crisis Services, and says the first year of the national number showed why it was created. “We’ve been really glad to see that more people are reaching out for support. And likely because it’s much easier in crisis when maybe we’re not thinking quite as clearly to remember a three digit number rather than a ten digit number,” Bloome says.
Bloome says many people pushed for the number on social media and there were national and state efforts to let people become aware. She expects the knowledge of the number, and calls to continue to rise in the second year. “There is this kind of grassroots 988 promotion piece, in addition to formal promotions. I think both of those played a part, she says.”I do think in the next year, we’re going to see a lot more of that formal marketing piece. The we’re expecting call volume to increase pretty significantly.” Blomme says.
She says anyone can simply dial 988 to talk with a trained counselor. “You can call or chat or text when you’re in crisis. And how we define a crisis is when the coping mechanisms that you want to use that were effective no longer are, or you’re at a place where you don’t know what to do next,” Blomme says. She says it’s an important resource for someone contemplating suicide — but people call for all different reasons from their car broke down, to they were just diagnosed with cancer.
“We don’t want people to go to the hospital of the hospital isn’t what they need. And so by calling 988, we can do a screening and an assessment, and really figure out are you at risk? How at risk? You know, are you contemplating suicide? What does that look like?,” she says. “And then collectively with you, or with someone who, you know, who cares about you who might be calling on your behalf, figure out do you need mobile crisis? Do you need an Access Center? Do you just need to get out of the current situation, you’re in temporarily? And that’s going to be helpful.”
Blomme says they are continuing to see the aftermath of the pandemic on people’s lives. She says they’ve also seen people realizing that COVID had a wide impact and many people may need help coping with the loses and changes it brought. “So we’ve seen an increase in vulnerability of people being willing to talk about their mental health issues being able to reach out more for support,” Bloomy says, “being able to understand kind of what’s going on with them. If they’re a person who pre-COVID hadn’t, maybe experienced significant mental health issues. And so we know that as that stigma decreases, we’ll see volume increased, because people will feel more comfortable reaching out for support. And I think that’s part of what we’ve seen in the increase, but I expect that to continue.”
Blomme says one thing that is important to know is the 988 line isn’t just for individuals to call. She says it’s a great place for you to start if you have concerns with a family member, spouse or a friend. “To say here are the symptoms I’ve seen, should I be concerned? What should I say? How should I say that? Our teams are really prepared to support people who are trying to help others in crisis and I think sometimes that’s missed,” Blomme says. She says you shouldn’t hesitate if someone you care about is in crisis, and you’re not sure what to do.
The service is free, confidential and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids answers the Iowa calls along with CommUnity Crisis Services in Iowa City.