‘988 Is for Everyone’: Inside the New Mental Health Hotline

988 is now the 911 of mental health emergencies. The three-digit number will connect you to a crisis call center in your area and a trained counselor to talk, text, or chat with. Andy speaks with Wendy Martinez Farmer and Dr. Linda Henderson-Smith from Beacon Health Options about how 988 reimagines the National Sucicide Prevention Hotline to be more accessible and inclusive, and why you don’t have to be suicidal to call. Suicide attempt survivor and crisis counselor Shelby Rowe opens up about her own mental health journey and explains why resources vary community by community.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt.

Follow Dr. Linda Henderson-Smith and Beacon Health Options on Twitter @DrLYHSmith and @BeaconHealthOpt.

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Learn more about 988: https://988lifeline.org/current-events/the-lifeline-and-988/
• Read about how the Kennedy-Satcher Center for Mental Health Equity and Beacon Health Options’ plan to embed equity into the 988 hotline: https://kennedysatcher.org/impact-areas/policy/988_policy_brief/
• Learn how a robust crisis infrastructure for behavioral health can provide better treatment, save lives, and reduce costs: https://s29360.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/220401-GROWTH-Crisis-WhitePaper-2022-EN-Final-1.pdf
• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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