Every 11 minutes there was a death by suicide in the United States in 2020. In Mississippi, 410 people committed suicide that year alone, said Wendy Bailey, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, quoting the most recent statistics regarding the mental health crisis.
Federal legislation in 2020 prompted the Federal Communications Commission to designate a three-digit phone number to serve as a suicide prevention and mental health crisis line. “988” officially replaced the 11-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number on July 16.
“Too many times people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts or a substance use or mental health crisis go without the support and care they’re needing,” Bailey said. “Many times that may be because of stigma and fear of reaching out, or they don’t know how to reach out and how to navigate the system, which can be overwhelming.”
Bailey was joined by MDMH Chief of Staff Katie Storr at the Hilton Garden Inn on Monday to speak to the Starkville Rotary Club about the rollout of the suicide and crisis lifeline 988, how it works and what community mental health services are available.
Though 988 is the new three-digit code, the original (800) 273-8255 still works. The parent organization of the lifeline is Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and it defines three core guidelines for care that MDMH follows: someone to talk to, someone to respond and somewhere to go.
When someone in need of help reaches out through 988, that initial contact is done through crisis lines to give the person someone to talk to. Mississippi has two lifeline centers — one in Jackson and one in Columbus.
Storr said the calls are routed to crisis centers based on phone area code, not geolocation. If someone with a 662 area code calls the center but no longer lives in the state, they will still be routed to a Mississippi crisis center.
“The reason (calls are routed by area code) is that if you reach a Mississippi crisis call center, they’re aware of the resources and support here in the state,” Storr said. “Sometimes when that counselor is on the phone, that person’s crisis might be because they couldn’t get diapers for their child, and they’re having a behavior crisis because of that and maybe have some other things going on. That crisis counselor is going to have resources to tell that person where they should look.”
Those in crisis can also text the 988 number or go online to 988lifeline.org to chat with someone. Chat and text are not routed by area code yet.
If the person facing a mental health crisis needs extra care beyond someone to talk to over the phone, all 82 counties in the state have mobile crisis teams ready to respond for guidance and support, Bailey said.
Licensed therapists, peer support specialists and community support specialists can meet that person where they are or at a designated location. Those responding work with law enforcement to ensure the person undergoing a mental health crisis isn’t placed in jail or another restrictive environment.
If a crisis facility is needed, the response teams will assist the person who needs it to a crisis stabilization unit.
“In Mississippi, we now have 184 crisis stabilization beds,” Bailey said. “We had 3,108 people who served in those beds last year. The phenomenal outcome from this is crisis stabilization has an average length of stay of about 12 days. The whole purpose of going to a crisis stabilization unit is to avoid the need for a higher level of care, to avoid the need of having to go to a state hospital bed. Last year, 91 percent of the people served at a crisis stabilization unit were diverted from the state hospital bed, which is what you want. You want state hospital beds reserved for those who need it the most and is an absolute last resort.”
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