If you are in crisis right now: call or text 988 in the U.S. It is free, confidential, and answered around the clock. If you are not in crisis — just lonely, and you want a real person to talk to — How To Beat Loneliness answers a free line at 877-638-1122. This article is about a new University of Michigan poll on 988 for older adults: seven in ten people over 50 have never heard of it, and that number should bother all of us.
I’m Landon, part of the team at How To Beat Loneliness. In July, the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging published the first serious look at 988 for older adults — how many people over 50 know the crisis line exists, whether they’d use it, and what stops them. I read the whole report so you don’t have to. The short version: the line works, most of the people who need it most have never heard of it, and the fix is embarrassingly simple. Tell someone. Starting with whoever you’re thinking of right now.
What the poll found about 988 for older adults
The poll surveyed 2,379 U.S. adults age 50 and older in September 2025, and the headline number is stark: 69% had never heard of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Nearly a third (31%) had never heard of any mental health crisis line at all. That’s four years after 988 launched nationwide, and after more than 26 million calls, texts, and chats.
Here’s the part I find hopeful. Once the survey explained what 988 is, 75% of older adults said they’d feel at least somewhat comfortable contacting it. And 56% said they’d be likely to use a crisis line during a mental health emergency. So the problem isn’t willingness. It’s that nobody told them. As Kevin Saulnier, Ph.D., who worked with the poll team, put it, the data show a clear need to focus awareness efforts on people over 50.
The gaps inside the numbers matter too. Men were less likely than women to have heard of any crisis line, and less likely to say they’d feel comfortable calling 988 (68% of men vs. 81% of women). Among Hispanic adults over 50, 46% weren’t aware of any crisis hotline. The researchers flagged these gaps because men die by suicide at almost four times the rate of women, and suicide rates among people over 50 are now higher than among teens and young adults.
Who older adults say they’d actually call
The poll also asked where adults 50 and older would turn in a mental health crisis. A crisis line came fourth. Friends and family came first, at 83%, with the family doctor a hair behind at 82%. I made a chart because the shape of it says something the percentages alone don’t: for most older people, the first call in a bad moment is to a person they already know.
Notice the 46% who’d call 911. That’s a lot of people reaching for the emergency number in a moment that usually isn’t a medical emergency. It’s not wrong — 911 can route mental health calls to 988 — but it tells you how many folks simply don’t know there’s a number built for this.
Why older adults hesitate, and what the answers are
Half of the people polled (49%) had at least one worry about contacting 988. I hear the same worries on our line, so let me answer them the way the poll and the Lifeline itself do.
“Will they know who I am?” (26%)
Privacy was the top concern, and 40% said being able to stay anonymous would make them more likely to call. The answer: 988 doesn’t require your name, doesn’t track your location, and only shares information with your consent — unless a counselor believes you’re about to be seriously harmed, which the Lifeline describes as rare. Our own line is similar: no account, no intake form, no reason required.
“Will the police or an ambulance show up?” (14% and 15%)
Only when the counselor can’t work out a safety plan with you and believes harm is imminent. The overwhelming majority of contacts end the way they started: two people talking. If that fear is what’s kept you from calling, it’s worth knowing the poll’s own authors went out of their way to say so.
“I’ll be on hold forever.” (8%)
In March 2026, the average wait to reach a 988 counselor by phone was 35 seconds, according to SAMHSA’s published performance data. Forty percent of older adults said reaching someone immediately would make them more likely to call. Thirty-five seconds is about as immediate as a phone gets.
“I’m not in a crisis. I’m just… lonely.” (the one they didn’t poll)
This is the caller we built our line for. 988 counselors will absolutely talk with someone who just needs someone to talk to — the Lifeline says so on its own site. But plenty of people feel they’d be taking a seat from someone in real danger. If that’s you, call 877-638-1122. It’s free, a real person answers, and “I just wanted to hear a voice” is a perfectly good reason. There’s more on the difference between the two kinds of lines in is there a hotline for loneliness and in our guide to someone to talk to when lonely.
| If this is what’s happening… | Call this | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Thoughts of not wanting to be here, or a mental health emergency | 988 (call or text), free, 24/7 | A trained crisis counselor, ~35-second average wait, confidential |
| A life-threatening medical emergency | 911 | Emergency dispatch; can route mental health calls to 988 |
| A veteran or service member in crisis | 988, then press 1 | Veterans Crisis Line counselors who specialize in military life |
| Lonely, a quiet house, nobody to talk to today | 877-638-1122, free | A real person from How To Beat Loneliness, no account, no reason needed |
What you can do with this today
The poll’s director, Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren, said anyone who cares for people over 50 in any capacity should look for chances to share information about 988. I’d widen that to anyone who has a person over 50. Here is the whole to-do list.
Tell one person the number. Your dad, your neighbor, the man at church who’s been quieter since his wife passed. Say it plainly: “If things ever get really dark, you can call or text 988. It’s free and nobody has to know.” That one sentence closes the awareness gap for one person, which is how the gap actually closes.
Put both numbers where the phone is. A sticky note on the fridge with 988 and 877-638-1122 does more for an 80-year-old than any awareness campaign will. If you’re the one who’s 80, write it yourself. We’ve seen how much a written number matters in what happens when you call a loneliness line.
Don’t wait for a crisis to make the first call. The poll found that people who felt isolated or lacked companionship were far more likely to have contacted 988 than those who didn’t. Loneliness and crisis sit on the same road. Calling a friendly line early — ours, a warmline, a friend — is how you stay off the far end of it. Our founders wrote about why in the free loneliness phone line founders’ note.
Free. A real person answers. Not a crisis line — for crisis, call or text 988.
Important
We are companions, not clinicians. How To Beat Loneliness is a free line for ordinary loneliness — the quiet house, the long evening, the week nobody called. It is not a substitute for 988, a doctor, or emergency services. If you are thinking about ending your life, or you’re worried someone else is, call or text 988 now. If low mood has lasted weeks, tell your doctor; the poll found 82% of older adults would, and it’s the right instinct. Everything in this article comes from the University of Michigan report linked below; we’ve added nothing to the numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Is 988 for older adults, or just for young people?
988 is for anyone of any age in the U.S. who is in emotional distress, thinking about suicide, or worried about someone who is. A July 2026 University of Michigan poll found 69% of adults 50 and older had never heard of it, even though suicide rates among people over 50 are now higher than among teens and young adults.
Does calling 988 mean the police will come to my house?
Almost never. 988 counselors only dispatch emergency services when a caller is unable or unwilling to work on a safety plan and the counselor believes harm is imminent, which the Lifeline describes as rare. You do not have to give your name, and 988 does not track your location.
How long is the wait when you call 988?
In March 2026, callers waited an average of 35 seconds before a counselor answered, according to SAMHSA’s published 988 performance metrics. Text and chat are also available around the clock.
What if I’m not in crisis and just want someone to talk to?
You can still contact 988; the Lifeline says it is there for people who just need someone to talk to. If you’d rather not use a crisis line for ordinary loneliness, How To Beat Loneliness answers a free line at 877-638-1122 where a real person will talk with you, no account or reason required.
— Landon, How To Beat Loneliness
Sources
- University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, Mental Health Crisis Support and Older Adults: Perceptions of the 988 Lifeline (July 2026)
- U-M IHPI press release, Are 988 and other mental health crisis lines missing people over 50? (July 13, 2026)
- SAMHSA, 988 Lifeline Performance Metrics
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Confidentiality