Q&A: As suicides rise in the US, the 988 hotline offers hope—but most Americans aren’t aware of it

July 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of the national launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Currently, more than 200 call centers throughout the U.S. are responding to 988 calls. But few people know it exists. SciLine interviewed Dr. Emmy Betz, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado, who discussed the critical need to raise awareness about 988, the increasing numbers of suicide deaths in the U.S. and the signs that someone is thinking about suicide.