Calls to suicide prevention hotline spiked after celebrity deaths

Trained counselors at more than 150 crisis centers in the United States fielded 65% more phone calls over the previous week for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the organization’s director of communications, Frances Gonzalez, said. And the Crisis Text Line saw a 116% increase in volume, according to Liz Eddy, the text line’s spokeswoman.

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Surges in activity like this are not unusual after famous people take their lives and hotlines get promoted, explained Eddy. She said they saw similar increases after actor and comedian Robin Williams ended his life in 2014 and after Chester Bennington, the former lead singer of Linkin Park and Stone Temple Pilots, died by suicide in 2017.

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