11 months ago, the United States Government officially launched a new program to help prevent suicide.
Today, as of 9am this morning, the Canadian Government was finally able to go live with the same initiative after working out all of its telecommunication kinks and funding issues over the past year. This program now gives all Canadians the same access to suicide prevention services and will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, free of charge anywhere in Canada by simply dialing or texting the numbers 9-8-8.
Anyone who has ever experienced a mental health crisis or contemplated suicide knows that time is of the essence and reaching out to crisis helplines has proven to be a valuable way to help prevent suicide in real-time.
When someone dials or texts 9-8-8, a trained responder will “take a non-judgmental approach to discussing whether there’s a plan, associated mental health issues, use of substances, protective factors and strengths, supports and coping strategies.” Their main focus will then shift to collaborate on a safety plan with the caller by connecting them with local counsellors and other mental health supports.
Only having to dial (or text) 3 digits when in crisis as opposed to having to remember a 10 digit long, 1-800 number can be lifesaving to someone in need of immediate aid or intervention.
There are 39 partner organizations (including Kids Help Phone) taking part in this program, all of whom have come together to pool their resources and make sure that anyone who dials 9-8-8 has immediate crisis access. A special thank you to one of its key sponsors, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for providing the program with 150 million dollars in funding.
Please share. It could save a life.
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