Call and Text Support Available
Green Bay, WI (July 15, 2022) – A faster way to seek mental health support during a crisis will soon be available nationwide. Starting July 16, calling or texting 988 will connect individuals to the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline. The toll-free number 1-800-273-TALK is available now and will remain available after the nationwide transition to the short code is completed on July 16.
Calling or texting 988 connects an individual to a trained counselor at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network Lifeline counselors will listen, provide support, and connect individuals to additional resources if necessary.
“Lifeline is a critical resource, and the new nationwide 988 short code will make it very easy to access. We encourage people to share this number with their friends, family and networks to help spread the word and possibly save a life,” said Cindy Durand, senior director of public affairs at Nsight.
The texting service does not support multimedia messages, including pictures and videos. Including these items will cause message failure. Users should only include text in the body of their text messages to 988.
There is no charge from a service provider to utilize this service, however the device needs to have an active plan and will not work on a disconnected cell phone. For additional information, Cellcom customers can visit www.cellcom.com/988 and Nsight Telservices customers can visit www.nsighttel.com/news-room.
For more about the Lifeline, people can visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Media Contact:
Tammy VanDenBusch
Communications Manager
(920) 617-7107
Cindy Durand
Senior Director of Marketing Communications
(920) 617-7069
