RI suicide hotline sees 212% increase in calls since 2022

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has experienced a 212% increase in calls since opening in Rhode Island in 2022, state officials announced Sept. 8, as reported in The Brown Daily Herald on Sept. 24. When the call center opened in July 2022, it received just 490 calls that month. Three years later, in July 2025, that number jumped to 1,530. In total, the center has picked up over 64,000 calls since its opening. The volume of calls has consistently increased “pretty much every month since the launch,” said Emily Goodspeed, a data analyst at the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH). Based on existing data, Goodspeed expects the number of calls to continue rising. In Rhode Island, this hotline is operated by counselors at BH Link, a behavioral health facility located in East Providence. In addition to the call center, BH Link offers a walk-in triage center for adults in distress. Goodspeed cited “media campaigns and increased need from Rhode Islanders,” as well as the accessibility of the three-digit number, as reasons for the increase in 988 calls. To bring attention to the hotline, BHDDH has turned to bus ads, billboards and digital and social media content, Christine Ure, the 988 project director at BHDDH, told The Herald.