When the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act of 2018 became law, the FCC was charged with determining the feasibility of constructing a three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline to supplement or replace the current ten-digit number. The FCC studied the issue and after analyzing the pros and cons, recommends setting aside 988 for that purpose.
As the study explains, suicide is reaching crisis levels.
In 2017, “more than 47,000 Americans died by suicide and more than 1.4 million adults attempted suicide.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1999 to 2016, suicide increased in 49 of the 50 states, and in more than half of those states, the increase was greater than 20%. Moreover, the largest increase in deaths by suicide occurred in the past decade, and from 2016 to 2017, an increase of 3.7% (more than 2,000 additional suicide deaths) was recorded.
Suicide rates are higher across various at-risk populations, including Veterans and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) communities. More than 20 Veterans die by suicide every day and between 2008 and 2016, there were more than 6,000 Veteran suicides each year. According to the CDC, LGBTQ youth contemplate suicide at a rate almost three times higher than heterosexual youth, and more than 500,000 LGBTQ youth will attempt suicide this year.
I’m all for it. But I wonder whether Oregon, California, and the seven other states that have legalized “suicide by doctor” (a term I first heard from my friend Tom Shakely of Americans United for Life), would permit the system to operate. After all, they are on record as being pro-some suicides.
Sarcasm aside, this is a very good idea. But the hotline should be utilized whenever anyone asks for or threatens suicide — including when diagnosed with a terminal illness. Everyone who is suicidal deserves prevention interventions, not just the healthy and depressed.