‘You’re not alone’: Counselors see rise in calls to 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

“We want to be able to help in case they ever get to those thoughts,” said Sharayah Jeffries, assistant director with First Choice Services. “We can help them, give them resources and set up plans to help take care of themselves in that moment.”

“It’s hard to track what exactly causes these [increases], because anything can be considered a traumatic event to anybody and just the escalation of everything going on in the world plus personal lives combining,” Jeffries said.

“We used to have people be like ‘Well, I’m in a crisis, but I’m not suicidal, so I don’t think I can call you yet.” said Sheila Moran, communications director of First Choice Services. “That’s certainly not the case.”

“A lot of these people that reach our don’t feel safe to open up and talk to people around them because they feel like they’re a burden,” Jeffries said. “We give them that safe space to where they can feel heard. A lot of the problem is nobody wants to actually listen to their story.”