As of Saturday, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — which was previously 800-273-TALK (8255) — can now be accessed via the three digit code 988 in a revamped version providing the option for quicker and easier access.
The original National Suicide Prevention Lifeline dates back to 2004 and was launched by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services and worked in partnership with search engines like Google so that anyone searching out information regarding suicide methods or ways of prevention would receive a result containing the lifeline number. As of this weekend, any such individual will receive the code 988 as a result.
