CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It is a lifeline for anyone suffering from a mental health crisis, the national suicide number 9-8-8.
According to the CDC suicide is the second leading cause of death in children and young adults.
Stats show within the first year of changing over to the three digit number, calls went up by 45 percent.
Data also shows that in April of this year alone there were over 11-thousand missed calls across the u-s.
NAMI Greater Corpus Christi Communications Manager, Heather Loeb, knows the importance of accessing mental health resources.
"I was initially put on hold when I dialed the number and so I decided to do the chat feature and there were 75 people waiting above me," she said.
Loeb was on hold with the national crisis center and was unable to get into contact with a professional. Due to the scarcity, she reached out to a trusted friend.
While average wait times have dropped, there are calls that go unanswered.
"That could be the difference between life and death for some people. And so those statistics are scary," Angela Horner said.
NAMI chapter administrator, Angela Horner, was in Austin last month to advocate for better mental health legislation.
Horner acknowledges one of the challenges is the shortage in behavioral health workers nationwide.
"Not just for the call centers but psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors," she said.
Family Counseling Service Executive Director, Kristi Phillips, said her office provides mental health counseling to people as young as 3 years old.
Last month, her office saw 114 intakes. She isn't surprised by the increase in calls to 988.
"It's an easy number to remember but definitely its a reflection of the need," she said.
It's a need Phillips said local groups are also having a difficult time filling.
"Burnout is high. With that very difficult work, salaries tend to be low, it leads to people dropping out of the field, when we try to hire, we have a difficult time filling our open positions," she said.
Both Loeb and Horner said that if residents can't get in contact with the hotline number, they should call a friend or even 911.
Go to the nearest ER, focus on your breathing, there are a number of other local resources available like MHID which has a 24/7 crisis line 1 (888) 767-4493.
The Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation also has its outreach team available at (361) 215-8839.
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