It’s been a year since the U.S. launched its 988 national mental health hotline — and while the service is still dealing with logistical challenges, its biggest issue may be persuading more Americans to make use of it.
Only 33% of Americans are at least somewhat familiar with the number and the service it provides, according to a survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted by Ipsos and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) conducted in June 2023. A larger percentage of Americans had at least heard of 988 (63%), but didn’t know much more about it. Still, this was an improvement compared with September 2022, when only 44% of Americans had heard about it at all.