Over the past few years, Gen Z has done their best to increase awareness and advocate for others about mental health. And in recent years the advocacy that the youth has fought for has worked intensely. Every year multiple mass infographics of suicide prevention, hotlines, and stories are shared through social media, television, and schools.
However, the resources and support for suicide prevention are greatly lacking. For example, how can the public youth have so much influence on the impact of mental health, but there is still a lack of major support in hotlines or in psychiatric hospitals?
One of the most popular suicide hotline numbers, 988, is suggested by practically every teacher and supportive adult, and a Beaumont writer for Texas explained after the pandemic that, “there was roughly 45% increase in 988 calls.”
This is great news to hear, and the fact that after a rough patch in most people’s lives, people relied on support around them. But realistically, when one calls the hotline there are many flaws.
For one, the lack of people volunteering for the hotline to help people in a mental health crisis is quite ironic. Imagine feeling pushed to the edge of life, and your instinct is to call the hotline–like every person suggests– however, you get long wait times (reported instances have been the wait times leading up to 10 minutes before answering), and the hold music that is entirely too upbeat does not match the tone of the atmosphere. And finally… after it feels like the call took years to get a response, you get one, but in most cases not a professional one.
In the state of Texas, Beaumont Texas writer continued that over 25% of 988 calls went unanswered.
From the stories that have been shared, most of the people helping the hotline lack professional training. NPR explains how Liz Winston, an influencer on Instagram, thought 988 was a “traumatizing experience.”
In a few stories, many sharing their experience through social media say there have been instances of the operator hanging up; this leaves a broken soul with more questions and heartbreaks.
The people behind the suicide hotline are: unpaid volunteers who get poor training. In instances with services like ASIST, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills, they get two days of training to help with prevention. Two days is not enough; this will not make them equipped to handle a severe mental health crisis.
The stigma of suicide is fading; however, the general public is so far away from gaining actual support. Everyone talks about suicide, but no one gives the proper support when it comes to high-risk moments such as hotlines.
