Please note that for the purpose of this article, we are sharing information about the 988 Lifeline’s call, text and chat services. Other crisis line services may operate differently.
Myth: You have to be experiencing a mental health crisis to call a crisis line.
Fact: You don’t have to be in crisis to call. The friendly and trained counselors on the other end of a crisis line are available to anyone experiencing mental health struggles – whether you’re truly in crisis or just need someone to talk to.
Myth: If you contact a crisis line, emergency services will automatically be alerted.
Fact: Most 988 calls don’t require a call to emergency services or 911 (less than two percent). If there is imminent risk to someone’s life that cannot be reduced during the call, the crisis counselor will share information with 911 that is crucial to saving the caller’s life. In the rare case that this needs to happen, it is usually done with the caller’s consent.
Myth: Calls or texts to a crisis line are not confidential.
Fact: When a person contacts a crisis line, they don’t have to say who or where they are in order to receive support. They crisis counselors only know what callers/texters choose to share with them.
Myth: Crisis lines can trace my call, text or chat.
Fact: The 988 Lifeline does not have the capability to directly “trace” or geolocate callers, texters or chatters in the way that 911 providers do. In the rare situations where emergency services must be contacted to prevent someone from seriously or fatally harming themselves or others, and the person is unwilling or unable to share their location information, 988 Lifeline crisis counselors must provide what information they have to 911 operators–the person’s phone number or IP address–to enable them to do whatever they can to locate the individual.
Myth: Crisis lines don’t actually help people.
Fact: Numerous studies conducted by the 988 Lifeline have shown that most callers are much more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed and more hopeful after speaking to a crisis counselor.
Remember: asking for the support you need is BRAVE. There are #ZeroReasonsWhy you should have to face your struggles alone.
Source: 988 Lifeline