Utah’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Line sees increase in calls after Charlie Kirk killing

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has seen an increase in call volume since the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, according to the Huntsman

Mental Health Institute. ABC4 sat down to discuss the influx of calls and the resources available to those struggling with mental health.

Prior to Kirk’s death, the Utah Crisis Line had been averaging 396 calls per day — this statistic coming from the period of Sept. 1 – Sept. 9. On the day of the incident, Sept. 10, the line received 434 calls, a 10% increase from the daily average in Sept.

The hotline was able to manage a 90% in-state answer rate, meaning that 90% of calls were answered within two minutes or less by Utah team members. The remaining calls were forwarded to national 988 backup centers.

On the first day after the incident, Sept. 11, demand peaked at 472 calls for support. This amounted to a 9% day-over-day increase in demand, compared to Sept. 10, and a 19% uptick in demand for services compared to the daily average prior to the incident.

“Our team anticipated the increase in call volume and increased staffing levels, which allowed our team to answer 95% of those calls for support in-state,” Huntsman Institute’s Director of Community Crisis Intervention & Support Services Rachel Lucynski said regarding the day that followed the assassination. “We saw the highest call volume on this day as many people had either come out of their state of shock and were needing support, had seen social media and/or traditional media posts about 988 as a resource, and/or had seen upsetting and graphic visuals of the incident.”

Lucynski said that probably around half of the calls coming in on those days pertained to the shooting. But in moving forward, she said if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, disappointed with a life situation, or experiencing depression, any of those reasons are a reason to call the crisis line.

“And we definitely are here and available 24-7 to answer those calls,” Lucynski said. “To have something happen that close to home in Utah, I think was very upsetting, very concerning for people and really shook their sense of safety and security.”

“What’s really important is that people don’t bottle those emotions up or feel like they have no one to turn to to talk through those things, because that’s when they can really escalate and cause a greater level of impact to daily life,” she said. “988 is always available 24-7 at no cost. It’s a confidential service where you can call and connect with a trained empathetic crisis worker who’s skilled at handling these types of crisis situations.”

And there’s other resources available as well. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, but not quite in a state of crisis, you can call the Utah Warm Line at 1-833-SPEAKUT (1-833-773-2588). The line is available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, for non-crisis mental health support from peers with lived experience in mental health challenges.

For folks that need in-person support, Lucynski said they have mobile crisis outreach teams that 988 can connect people to. These are in-person services where a master’s level clinician and a peer specialist actually respond in-person and come to you.

“We’ll come in an unmarked vehicle, we can go to your home, your place of business, a track station, the library, wherever you are,” Lucynski added. “Those teams can actually come to you and respond and they’re able to help deescalate a crisis situation, do a safety assessment, and see if further support or resources are needed.”

In Salt Lake County, people needing help can also go to the Kim and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Care Center, located in South Salt Lake. This center just recently opened in March of this year.

“And we do have crisis receiving centers across the state of Utah,” Lucynski said. “So really there’s a whole array of incredible mental health services. All of these, again, are available at no cost to offer that intervention and support.”

If anyone in Utah is struggling with mental health, please call 988.

“Our team is really skilled at talking through different options and making the appropriate referral and recommendation from that point,” Lucynski added.

And while some may still feel a stigma about reaching out for their mental health, Lucynski said there’s really nothing that will make them not want to offer help.

“You don’t have to feel ashamed,” she said. “It’s really quite normal to feel overwhelmed in times of potential violence in society or just with the stressors of daily life. We’ve heard it all. There’s no judgment. If you call 988, we’re not sending law enforcement or an ambulance to your door. Our team is really skilled at talking through those situations and really getting people connected to the level of support that’s right for them.”