It was a surprise. When Barbara Stanley, Ph.D., and Gregory K. Brown, Ph.D.—along with their research team—developed a safety plan during a treatment study on suicidal adolescents, they aimed to create a stopgap. The researchers wanted the teens to remain outpatient; they thought that would cause less disruption to the
In the days leading up to the start of high school in New Orleans, 14-year-old Kevin felt all the typical new school jitters. Most of his friends were going elsewhere, and summer hadn’t been great; there’d been a rift in his friendship group. Layered on top, Kevin, who is transgender,
A wild cranberry-colored line immediately appears as the liquid moves along the strip. No need to wait 30 seconds, let alone the 15 minutes stated in the directions—an expletive slips between my teeth. “What?” my son calls out. “What is it? Do I have Covid?” I enter his room wearing two
Craig Miller says he’s grateful for 988, the newly launched nationwide three-digit number for mental health, substance use, and suicidal crises. Not just for the number itself, but because it shows people who are struggling that those in power, like legislators and agency heads, care. “When you feel ‘they’ care—the
In February 2020, Utah’s state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn went to a legislative caucus to discuss a potential public health concern. “She came to tell us about something called Covid,” says Utah State Rep. Steve Eliason. “We were chatting before the caucus started, and I said, ‘You know, whatever happens
On March 4, Utah’s legislature passed its 988 Mental Health Crisis Assistance bill. A week later, Gov. Spencer Cox signed it into law. State Sen. Daniel Thatcher says it took seven years to get to this point. It actually started a year before Thatcher’s first three-digit bill—when in 2013, he received a
“Choice is important and crisis care systems need to make the full gamut of services available. Choice means having a variety of professions available, including peers, all of whom are able to provide the level and type of support the person desires. Lots of us have experienced harm, but that does
Washington was the first state to propose implementation legislation for 988, the three-digit number for behavioral health emergencies that must be available nationwide on July 16, 2022. Suicidologist Jennifer Stuber, Ph.D., helped craft it. She first heard of 988 on the news. “Just like everyone else,” she says. “I thought, ‘I
“The price paid is not just in elevated healthcare spend on mental health crisis care but also in terms of public safety, the cost of law enforcement engaged in addressing mental health crises, the expense of incarceration and the impact on quality of life for individuals in the community.” This descriptor
Colleen Carr, MPH, is the director of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention at the Education Development Center. Even at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carr noticed news media coverage quickly began discussing the potential impacts on mental health and suicide. The inclusion of mental health and suicide
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