Crisis Care Crucial to Suicide Prevention

“If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.”

The suicide rate in the United States has increased by 35% since 1999 and is now the 10th leading cause of death nationally.

In fact, the rate has tripled among girls 10 to 14 years old. It’s even up by 43 percent among men 45 to 64 years old. To combat these hard numbers, our nation desperately needs a deeper strategic investment in life-saving crisis care.

By Jajhill – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

That’s why every September we recognize National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. This month recognizes the effective work being done via crisis phone lines and care systems.

A crisis can strike any time, day or night and when feeling overwhelmed, hopeless or isolated, crisis care staff provide hope to those in need. This care can truly make a pivotal difference. In fact, family members we’ve spoken to have attributed crisis care as a difference-maker when a loved one considered taking their own life.

By picking up the phone, you will be greeted by a trained crisis care consultant who is willing, ready and able to listen and offer support in your darkest moments. It’s important to note that crisis lines are not just for those actively suicidal, but for survivors of suicide, those thinking about suicide, or anyone who needs help during a difficult time in their life.  Crisis care hotline staff will not try to rescue you or fix you, but they will listen, collaborate and connect with you to help ensure your safety.

Based on these experiences, here are three important takeaways to know about crisis care.

1) Crisis Care Lines Are the Front Line

Like a soldier keeping watch, crisis hotline professionals are available to provide suicide prevention services 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

Callers receive a free risk screening conducted by a highly trained crisis consultant and a commitment to remain engaged in conversation until safety is established and a plan of care is developed.

Centerstone is a part of The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to offer a confidential, secure and anonymous way of reaching out for help when you don’t know where else to turn.

Lifeline Chat

2) It’s More than a Phone Call

Contacting a suicide prevention hotline begins a thoughtful, thorough process of care.

Highly trained Crisis Care Consultants listen to callers and then link them to appropriate services. If needed, they can send a mobile crisis response team for face-to-face assessment.

At Centerstone, we follow up within 24 hours of the first contact to check in.

Our philosophy is to remain in contact with people until they feel connected to resources that will assist them in whatever is going on in their life to make them feel in a mental health crisis.

3) Strategic Crisis Care Works

Centerstone’s Crisis High-Risk Follow-Up focuses on safety planning and referral support after initial contact.

The goal of this follow up is to get people connected to the resources they need including mental health care and prevent suicide deaths.

One caller to the National Suicide Prevention Line, referring to the person who took the call, said, “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.”

If you or someone close is struggling with suicidal ideation, please call one of Centerstone’s 24-Hour Crisis Hotlines or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.