In just a year, Contact Helpline’s suicide calls have nearly doubled. In 2021 the organization fielded 582. In 2022 there were 841.
This follows a national trend for crisis hotlines, which have seen 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared November 2021, Associated Press reports.
Katrina Sunivelle, executive director for Contact Helpline based in Columbus, said the uptick is partially due to the 988 suicide and mental health crisis hotline number officially rolling out last July. While it may seem like a bad thing on the surface, Sunivelle sees the increase in calls as a good thing.
“It’s a good thing because it means more people are reaching out for help,” Sunivelle said. “People don’t want to die. They just want the pain to stop. Oftentimes that internal pain can be eased, it can bring that level of depression down, just by talking to someone about their problems and the situation they’re dealing with.”
The 988 suicide and mental health crisis hotline, which operates 24/7, isn’t just for people experiencing thoughts of suicide. Sunivelle said staff and volunteers speak with people facing different mental health crises and just need someone to talk through their day. If someone knows a person going through a crisis, they can call to get resources to help that person.
Contact Helpline receives calls from people who have depression, anxiety or even schizophrenia. If further care is needed, those manning the phones can dispatch mobile crisis teams around the state through Community Counseling Services and the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. Sunivelle likened calling 988 to cardiopulmonary resuscitation for mental health.
“We’re like that bridge between the person in crisis and additional care,” Sunivelle said. “… We keep them safe for now and continue to offer them resources and encourage them to utilize those resources in the community.”
Contact Helpline is monitored by volunteers and staff members. Staff typically have counseling backgrounds, and all people who work at the center as either a volunteer or staff member must have 40 hours of initial training on how to handle crisis calls. Each year they must renew their training with 12 hours of additional training.
Volunteers are usually asked to work a three to four hour shift from the comfort of their own homes and can choose when and how much they work.
Sunivelle said volunteers can work from home once training is complete, and that really helped when COVID-19 hit in spring 2020. She said the center is always in need of volunteers to man the lines and listen non-judgmentally, and anyone who is interested in being one can apply online at contacthelplinegtrms.org or call (662) 327-2968 for a volunteer application.
Applications also include a background check, and once an applicant is processed, they must begin crisis training before they can man the lines. Sunivelle said even the person who answers the business line must have the 40 hours of training before they can begin because someone in crisis might also call that line.
The center is internationally accredited, and crisis call centers that answer 90 percent or more of their calls qualify for this. It is one of two hotlines in the state, and if one call center is overwhelmed with calls, the other serves as backup to answer those calls, Sunivelle said.
Calls are routed to Mississippi centers by area code so the Mississippi centers can dispatch care around the state as needed.
Contact Hotline receives funding as an organization under United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee, fundraisers and federal and state funding for crisis hotline centers.
Sunivelle said the goal is to keep people out of hospitals and support them in the ways they can.
“The ultimate goal is to keep individuals out of mental health hospitals,” Sunivelle said. “We want them to live a life as normally as possible with their mental illness. That’s the ultimate goal — to give them that mental health support outside of going to a hospital. That’s a huge factor for us.”
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