The 988 suicide and crisis hotline has transformed the way Georgians access emergency mental health care since launching in 2022, and the state is building on that by observing Sept. 8 as “988 Day″ to further raise awareness.
But Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner says Georgians don’t have to be in crisis to call.
“It can be for someone who’s in crisis, but it can also be for someone who maybe is just looking how to access community services,” Tanner said on Monday’s episode of ‘Politically Georgia.’
The hotline averages 200,000 calls a year in Georgia alone, and awareness for the hotline continues to rise, Tanner said.
“In 2023, only 16 % of Georgians had heard of 988, which was a pretty low number. But in a survey we did last year, that had risen to over 84% of Georgians,” said Tanner.
Tanner says for those in crisis they should think of the hotline as a “three-legged stool.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“So it’s a trained clinician that you can call. No. 2, it’s someone to respond. So that’s where mobile crisis teams come in,” he said. “The third leg of the stool is a safe place to go.”
Tanner also says he’s pleased lawmakers put more money in mental health services in Georgia and passed the Mental Health Parity Act in 2022, requiring insurance companies to cover mental health care the same as physical health care.
“Georgia has really put itself in a place to where other states are looking to Georgia to learn how we’re getting things right,” he said. “So I’m very proud of our leaders and where we’ve come over the last six or seven years.”
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