As of July 16, 2022, community members have a new way to connect to local behavioral health crisis services. 988 is the new easy to remember three-digit dialing, texting, and chat code for anyone experiencing a suicidal or mental health crisis and will connect users with the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now called the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) network of crisis call centers. 988 ensures 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help anyone experiencing mental health-related distress — whether it’s thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. 

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline replaces the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline AND expands services to cover all behavioral health crisis services, including mental health and substance use. Maryland’s crisis hotline (call 211, press 1) will remain in operation and accessible to Marylanders throughout the transition to 988 and beyond.

Community members can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

There are urgent realities driving the need for crisis service transformation across our country. Some statistics:

• In 2018, 20.8% of high school students in St. Mary’s County and 50.8% of gay, lesbian, or bisexual high school students in St. Mary’s County reported having seriously considered attempting suicide (Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2018).
• The suicide rate (per 100,000 population) in St. Mary’s County from 2014 – 2018 was 11 compared to the state rate of 10.
• For people aged 10 – 34 years old in the United States, suicide is a leading cause of death, and
• In 2019, there were 31 deaths due to overdose in St. Mary’s County.

Behind each of these data points, there are people, families and communities who have been impacted. Yet, in the face of these urgent realities, there is hope. The 988 Lifeline aims to help thousands of struggling people overcome suicidal crisis or behavioral health related distress every day.

Additional Resources:
SAMHSA’s 988 Partner Toolkit
NAMI’s FAQs for Nationwide Availability of 988
988 in Maryland