Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States, or Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada, and formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, is a suicide prevention and crisis help line to a network of a large number of crisis centers in the United States and Canada that provide 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline and with the three-digit short code telephone number 9-8-8.

In the United States, the 988 short code was implemented in July 2022 as an addition to its predecessor, a 1-800 number that existed since 2005. Calls to the hotline are routed to the nearest crisis center that provides immediate counseling and a referral to a local mental health service. The service supports people who call for their own crisis or for someone they care about.

A similar operation in Canada was launched on November 30, 2023.