WASHINGTON — The number of Americans calling the government’s suicide-prevention hotline has increased every year since its launch, say the program’s staff, who attribute that to efforts to promote the phone number, rather than a rise in people considering suicide.
Last month, Americans called the hotline more than 47,000 times. In January 2005, when the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) was launched, it received just 1,500 calls, according to director Dr. John Draper.
Draper says the hotline receives, on average, about a 10 percent increase in calls every month. In the past year, nearly 500,000 people have called it.
“The increase in calls does not correlate to an increasing number of people who are in psychological distress,” he said.
Although it’s hard to pinpoint an exact correlation between promotional efforts and the number of calls, he said, more people consistently call the hotline after it is mentioned in the media.
