The Missouri 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has launched a new website: www.missouri988.org.
Instead of calling 911, people should call 988 if they are experiencing a behavioral or mental health crisis and need help. The service is free at any time of the day, Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday.
The national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline replaced the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on July 16.
Missouri 988 is a crisis call line that has "created a more streamlined and effective resource for Missourians in behavioral health crisis," Parson said.
The website can direct visitors to the 988 crisis call center, where counselors are available immediately. It may also direct them to an online chatroom, available after submitting a survey. And it may direct them to a behavioral health center in their county, which has a crisis center, available via queues on a priority basis.
Department of Mental Health Director Valerie Huhn says the crisis line helps alleviate the workload on law enforcement and emergency response.
According to a Governor's Office news release, since July 16, "(988) has routed thousands of individuals to local, trained crisis specialists at Missouri's call centers."
Call center counselors may help resolve issues by referring callers to local crisis centers. Each county in Missouri has its own behavioral health provider. For instance, Compass Health has several locations throughout a beltway across Central Missouri, and provides services for 25 counties across that beltway. Among those counties are Cole, Maries, Miller, Morgan, Osage and others.
According to the Missouri 988 chatroom survey, the concerns addressed include: addictions, anxiety, bullying, depression, discrimination, eating disorders, family issues, financial issues, problems in school, relationship issues, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical health, self harm, sexuality, someone else's safety, violence or any other concerns.
Veterans and active service members have their own phone extension by calling 988 and pressing 1.
LGBTQ+ community members under 25 may access 24/7 support and will be asked if they want to opt-in to this support before being connected with a crisis counselor.
All communication is confidential.