Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline sees spike in texts and calls

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The amount of calls and text messages coming in to Idaho’s Suicide Prevention Hotline is on the rise.

The hotline is designed to provide help for not only suicidal people, but also anyone who needs emotional support.

In October, Hotline received more than 450 total contacts, three of which were from text messages.  In November, there were 620 contacts and five times as many texts.  The texts continued to rise in December and January when there were 660 contacts and 70 texts.

Hotline officials say that while it is hard to specifically determine why more and more people are contacting the line, two things could be to blame – the November election and winter weather.  Hotline calls started going up around Election Day, and the harsh winter season also led to higher incidents of contacts, due to greater isolation of people unable to leave their homes or travel.

The Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline is 208-398-4357, or 208-398-HELP.  (KTVB)