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Cries for help pour into 988 mental health, suicide line

HYATTSVILLE, Md. � When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or “suicidio.�

Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that they’re calling for themselves.

Mental Health 988

988 Call Center Director Jamieson Brill poses for a photo on Oct. 7, 2022, at a facility in Hyattsville, Md. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls around the clock from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.

Mental Health 988

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks at the podium during a press conference on the kickoff of the 988 helpline on July 15, 2022, in West Philadelphia.

Mental Health 988

The 988 mental health and suicide helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched, receiving just over 2 million calls, texts and chat message since July.





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