The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is releasing new data showing the response to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the state.
The three-digit number for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launched in mid-July 2022 after two years of planning, preparation, and expansion. In Tennessee, that included distributing about $2.8 million in federal funding to community-based crisis call centers to hire dozens of new staff.
The preparation paid off with about 21,000 Tennessee calls to 988 in the last six months of 2022, an increase of about 500 calls per month over the previous 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number. During that same time frame, there were nearly 10,000 texts to 988 and chats with 988lifeline.org from people in Tennessee.
Additional capacity is being added in Nashville, Knoxville, and West Tennessee utilizing $1 million in supplemental funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and existing Mental Health Block Grant Funding. The department previously expanded chat and text capabilities in September to meet the demand during peak times.
Since the launch of 988, only about three percent of calls have resulted in law enforcement interactions, a similar rate as under the previous National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The largest number of people who reach out (42 percent) just want to talk to someone about what they are going through.
