OAKTON, VA (August 26, 2021) —PRS, a nonprofit operating Northern Virginia’s crisis hotline and textline, is hosting its 7^th annual #CallTextLive Campaign with activities throughout September’s Suicide Prevention Month. The campaign provides information and activities that create awareness about preventing suicide and calling or texting a hotline to receive help and support. Suicide, a serious issue locally and nationally and exacerbated by the pandemic, claims the lives of more than 47,000 people annually and is the second leading cause for people aged 10-34.

“The need for suicide prevention outreach is more critical than ever as the pandemic has heightened anxiety and despair.  We need to continue reducing stigma around discussing issues that contribute to suicide and encourage people to get help.  By participating in #CallTextLive social media, activities and events, people can find simple ways to effect change,” explained Joseph Getch, CEO, PRS.

Using the hashtag #CallTextLive, the campaign works to educate the community about resources available and actions they can take to bring awareness to suicide prevention and intervention.  A simple call or text to a crisis hotline or textline often provides the empathetic, trained voice that someone in crisis needs to reduce their pain and provide alternatives and connections to care.

By visiting PRS’ website at www.prsinc.org/calltextlive, people can discover how to participate in the #CallTextLive Campaign. Campaign elements include information designed to support populations at a higher risk for suicide behaviors; facts and data about understanding the problem of suicide; resources about identifying when someone is in crisis; and invitations to PRS supported events including NAMI NoVa Walk and AFSP Fairfax Walk.

Social media is an important part of the campaign and is used to engage people in sharing stories and photos on PRS Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the #CallTextLive hashtag.  The campaign also encourages people to crowdsource to support PRS’ CrisisLink Hotline/Textline since the increased demand for services requires more staff and volunteers to answer the call.

COVID-related anxiety, depression, loneliness and decreased stress tolerance has made suicide prevention efforts more important than ever. In fact, 36% of callers to PRS’ CrisisLink Program—Virginia’s crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline, text and chat service—identified COVID-19 as the primary stressor in their lives with a third of those experiencing acute suicide thoughts. PRS case managers report seeing younger children with increasingly aggressive behaviors and teens with increased hospitalizations, suicide ideation, risky behaviors and drug use.

For every death, 278 people manage to move past thoughts of suicide and survive. PRS supports this through its CrisisLink program, which handles over 100,000 calls, texts and chats each year. The PRS CrisisLink Hotline can be reached at (800) 273-TALK [8255] and the textline by texting “CONNECT” to 85511. PRS also supports the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s hotline and chatline as part of the subnetwork of crisis centers answering overflow calls and chats from around the nation. PRS provides behavioral health, crisis intervention and suicide prevention services.  www.prsinc.org.