The 9 8 8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers, providing free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone can call 9 8 8, including family and friends of a loved one in crisis, as well as social workers, and other professionals to secure specialized help for their clients.

9 8 8 has been designated as a three-digit dialing code available to everyone across the United States as of July 16th, 2022. When people call, text, or chat, 9 8 8, they are connected to trained counselors that are part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. These trained counselors listen to the caller to understand the situation the caller is facing, provide support, and connect them to resources as necessary.

According to the CDC, nearly 46,000 people died by suicide in 2020. That’s one death every 11 minutes. This underscores how critically important it is to make access to this kind of care easily accessible. One goal of this National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is to have 9 8 8 as identifiable as 9 1 1, simple and easy to remember when one is in crisis.

Calling 9 8 8 will connect you to the nearest available mental health counselor in your area. The response time to answer each call made to 9 8 8 is ideally less than 20 seconds, to minimize the experience of a caller being placed on hold. Talbert House is the primary 9 8 8 call center for Hamilton County, Ohio, insuring that every caller is greeted by a warm, empathetic counselor specializing in crisis and suicide intervention. NorthKey Community Care is the primary 9 8 8 call center for Northern Kentucky, likewise insuring the highest level quality of care for every caller.

Numerous studies have shown that individuals in crisis feel less suicidal, less depressed, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful after speaking with a Lifeline counselor. If you or someone you know is in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, call 9 8 8.

You can find more resources related to mental health by selecting the “mental health” option from the dropdown tab on our Social Service “Utilization Library” page.