WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – When you have a medical emergency, you know to dial 911. Beginning Saturday, you can call 988 if you’re having a mental health emergency.
It’s a new resource local officials say will open the door to reducing the stigma around mental health.
Behavioral Health and Substance Use Coordinator Robert Bowen has seen how successful the local and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be.
“Feedback that I’ve gotten is it was almost immediate, the service was, it was very helpful, and it was temporary to fill the gap until they got to a behavioral health provider,” he said.
And the national lifeline is about to go from ten digits to three: 988.
Locally, in 2021, Jefferson County’s crisis call center took just over 3,000 calls. So far in 2022, there have been 1,358.
Jefferson County Mental Health Services Coordinator Alicia Ruperd says the new number will be a game changer and will likely speed up response times.
“Now they’re going to be able to access the crisis center, and that crisis center can process with them what’s going on, and get them linked to the appropriate services here, locally,” she said.
The current national number, 1-800-273-TALK (8255), will still be around.
“The 1-800 number is not going away. The local crisis center is not going away. Those will still be available to the public,” said Ruperd.
Both Ruperd and Bowen hope the new number will lessen the stigma around asking for help and open up the door to more conversations about mental health.
“I think the idea really is to get more resources, more options, and again if this one’s promoted a little more maybe, we can utilize it a little more. Again, you have to start the conversation,” said Bowen.
For more information on the new lifeline number, click here.
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