Dr. John Draper and Dr. Richard McKeon have written a historical perspective on the development and evolution of crisis hotlines in the United States, culminating in the establishment of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in July 2022.
They describe how crisis hotlines emerged in the mid-20th century as an alternative to traditional mental health services, and how federal funding and evaluation efforts in the early 21st century led to the creation of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network, which demonstrated the effectiveness of crisis hotlines in reducing emotional distress and suicidality.
The article highlights how the success of the Lifeline network, along with increasing public awareness and use of the service, inspired Congress to propose the creation of a national 3-digit number (988) to enable greater access to the Lifeline.
Dr. Draper and Dr. McKeon argue that the establishment of 988 has the potential to transform behavioral health and crisis care in the United States by providing a complete public health response to behavioral health crises and integrating access to care into traditional behavioral health care systems.