Nearly 9 million text conversations. That is the count Crisis Text Line gives for its first decade, and the figure it uses to argue that a text message can carry real help. When the service launched, in its own words, few expected that.
The organization frames the number against a shortage of care. The organization points to rising depression and suicidal ideation, especially among young people aged 10-24, and to a shortage of mental health professionals. Of its texters, 25% say nobody else in their lives was there to talk with, and just 19% say professional help is within reach. The topics range from homework struggles, bullying and relationships to abuse, self harm and suicidal ideation.
Volunteers and what the data shows
The counselors are volunteers. Crisis Text Line says that together they gave 340 years of their time across the decade. The group also reports that volunteers looked after their own mental health better, and that listening and problem-solving skills carried over into their families and jobs.
The conversations have become a research asset. Working with outside collaborators, the organization says it has learned that the pandemic affected frontline workers and also their children, who faced a higher risk of bereavement and substance use. It found that hurricanes leave lasting psychological marks, and that mass shootings reach well past the communities where they happen. Heat waves, it adds, push more young city dwellers who lack park space to text in.
Beyond the United States
Since 2018, Crisis Text Line has supplied technology for text-based crisis support to three partners: Shout in the UK, Canada’s Kids Help Phone and Ireland’s SpunOut. Those partnerships account for another 3 million conversations, along with 23,000 volunteers trained abroad. Blavity reported that a Spanish-language option also runs through WhatsApp.
In the United States, anyone can text HOME to 741741 to reach a volunteer Crisis Counselor, free and confidential, around the clock.
Sources
- A Decade of Impact (Crisis Text Line)
- Crisis Text Line Fights To Make Counseling Services More Accessible For Young People (Blavity)
