Need help? If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Trained responders are available 24 hours a day.
In Johnson County, signs promoting a suicide prevention and crisis hotline are popping up in more places.
In schools, libraries, the county courthouse and correctional facilities, the colorful signs bearing the message “You are not alone” and advertising the phone number for the Johnson County Mental Health Center Crisis Line aim to prompt people to get help during dire times.
“We’ve found that the lapse in time between when someone has thoughts about suicide and when they take action in relationship to suicide is a very short amount of time,” said Shana Burgess, director of prevention and community relations at Johnson County Mental Health Center.
“Anything that we can do within that short amount of time to delay access to (a suicide attempt) or to connect to resources is super important in order to save lives,” she said.
What you need to know about county’s crisis line
- The number is 913-268-0156 and is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- In July 2022, the National 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was also implemented. Locally, calls to 988 are fielded by the Johnson County Mental Health Center.
- In the past six years, calls to the county’s crisis line have increased, from 17,684 calls in 2017 to 44,357 calls in 2022, officials say.
- “(We had) people who had never reached out to a crisis line before. (They had) an easy three digit number, just like they would have 911, they could remember,” Burgess said.
County suicide prevention group is behind the signs
The project to add more signs is spearheaded by the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition, a group of more than 400 local residents aimed at spreading suicide awareness and education.
Mary Ann Pitnick serves as a member of the coalition’s leadership team and led efforts to get more signs in public spaces.
She said partnering with people and organizations that touch a variety of backgrounds is essential to reduce suicides and meet people where they’re at in their lives.
“We firmly believe that it’s preventable and our efforts occur at the individual at every level of relationship in the community and societal level,” she said.
An important aspect the coalition wants people to remember is they shouldn’t question whether the crisis they’re experiencing is too big or small.
The crisis line is there to help them work through those questions.
“It’s also an information line,” said Carey Spain, chairperson of the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition. “Anybody can call this number anytime to say ‘Here’s a scenario. Am I overthinking this? Should I be concerned? What should I do?’”
It’s earned the coalition national praise
The coalition’s work was recently given national recognition.
In June, the Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition was awarded the Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties.
That award, in part, recognized the organization’s continued efforts to promote the county’s crisis line.
“Our leadership team is a small group of really dedicated passionate individuals who believe in this,” Burgess said. “Getting this recognition is just that much more of a push to help us keep going and say that what we’re doing matters.”
Andrew Gaug is a freelance reporter.
