Suicide Text Line Debuts With Success

Help is now just a text away for people facing a crisis.

Based in Northern Virginia, for 45 years, CrisisLink has been working to save lives and prevent suicide tragedies in the Washington area.

A few weeks ago, the non-profit was able to add a texting line in addition to its hotline and other services.

Now, just a few weeks in, a new suicide prevention help text line is already seeing results.

CrisisLink says the text line better serves the community.

CrisisLink Executive Director Julia Stephens said the group has been wanting to add a text line for awhile, but now a partnership with Fairfax County schools and the Community Service Board has given them the chance.

To demonstrate the need for the service, Stephens pointed to statistics that show 97 precent of American adults have a cell phone, including 75 percent of teenagers; that teens text a median 60 times a day and that 85 percent of teens say technology is their primary means of communicating with others.