Suicides among teens and young adults declined after the launch of the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in July 2022, according to a new study published Wednesday.
The shift to a three-digit number came with a more than $1.5 billion federal investment. Funds expanded hotline crisis center capacity and workforce across the United States, including in Oklahoma, which will continue receiving approximately $1.16 million for its hotline until September.
The study analyzed suicide deaths among 15- to 34-year-olds between the hotline’s lanch and December 2024. Researchers found that suicide deaths dropped 11% below projections, decreasing more sharply in states with a higher volume of answered calls.
The total translates to 4,372 fewer suicides during the two-year period, compared to what researchers would have expected based on prior years’ trends.
While the study does not prove causation, researchers found a strong link between hotline usage and fewer suicide deaths. A comparison of suicide deaths in states that saw the highest increases in 988 calls and the states with the lowest number of 988 calls helped tease out the hotline’s significance.
The ten states with the biggest relative increases in 988 hotline calls between 2022 and 2024 had an 18% decrease in suicide deaths. Those states included North Dakota, Virginia, Indiana, New York, Rhode Island, Missouri, Maryland, Vermont, Connecticut and West Virginia..
The states with the smallest increases in hotline use were Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, New Mexico, Mississippi, Illinois, Delaware, Wisconsin and Maine. Those states experienced less of a decrease in suicide deaths, at roughly 11%.
The hotline isn’t the sole reason deaths decreased, researchers said. Launching the number has also been a catalyst for investing in crisis care. More people have been hired and trained to take 988 calls, and wait times have gotten shorter. States have also invested in local crisis response systems, like mobile crisis teams.
Oklahoma budget deal includes money for 988
Funding to continue another year of operation of Oklahoma’s 988 hotline was included in a $12.8 billion budget deal signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt this month.
The hotline costs $5.96 million to operate, according to the Department of Mental Health. A couple of bills moving through the legislature aim to create a dedicated fund to sustain the hotline.
Federal investments supported the launch and implementation of 988 nationwide in 2022, but ongoing funding for local call centers, as well as the development of other core components of the behavioral health crisis continuum, largely fell to state and local governments.
Since 2022, calls to 988 in Oklahoma have nearly doubled. Last year, the hotline received 47,795 calls, 10,676 texts and 5,459 chats, according to the Department of Mental Health. The total includes callers who have self-reported to be citizens of 35 of the state’s 39 sovereign tribal nations and people who live in the state’s many rural towns.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can dial or text 988 and be connected to help.