988 suicide & crisis lifeline: Messaging and communications to people at higher risk for or disproportionately impacted by suicide

In July 2022, the U.S. transitioned the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to 988, an easy-to-remember three-digit number for 24/7 crisis care. Since its launch (using data from July 2022 to July 2023), reports show 988 “has received almost 5 million contacts, of which nearly 1 million are from the Veterans Crisis Line—a part of 988—with the rest consisting of 2.6 million calls, over 740,000 chats, and more than 600,000 texts.” The formative research detailed in this report included qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and motivations related to 988 and identifying help-seeking behaviors among populations with a higher risk for or disproportionately impacted by suicide as a first step in better understanding how to reach and engage them. The research also uncovered important findings about trusted messengers from the study’s population groups. The populations in this study are not an exhaustive list of groups that have higher risk for or are disproportionately impacted by suicide. Additional research efforts among other populations at high risk for suicide—such as marginalized groups like people experiencing homelessness, recently incarcerated people, and people living with serious mental illness—will be critical. 1.