Federal government proposes cuts that would eliminate the LGBTQ option for the 988 Lifeline
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — The federal government has proposed cuts to the National Suicide Hotline that would eliminate the option for LGBTQIA+ youth.
Annual Holocaust Commemoration to be held Sunday in Beckley
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that over fifty-eight thousand calls came into the 988 hotline under option 3 in February alone.
Option 3 is the direct line for LGBTQ youths who are facing a mental health crisis and may have nowhere else to turn.
According to The Trevor Project, an organization committed to ending suicide in LGBTQ youth, young people within community are more than four times as likely to commit suicide as their peers.
Dr. Ahmed Faheem, Chief of the Psychiatry program at Beckley Appalachian Regional Healthcare, said ending this option simply cannot be a good thing.
'My personal feeling, obviously, is that any loss of mental health option is going to be a disaster because we already are struggling with mental health providers or available services,' said Dr. Faheem.
While the cuts today are for option 3 on the 988 hotline, that doesn't guarantee these will be the only cuts.
Dr. Faheem raised the question of just where these cuts will stop and why certain people are being removed.
'Tomorrow, where are you going to draw the line? You know? You have the belief that somebody should not be looking the way they are looking, you're going to deprive them? Tomorrow, you will deprive them because they are doing certain things you don't approve of? So, what's the purpose of that hotline? The hotline is available for people in crisis. It should be available for all and everyone,' said Dr. Faheem.
Project Adventure promotes prevention through recreation
Dr. Faheem said he keeps a stack of 988 cards on his desk and he gives them to all of his patients.
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