Mental-health advocates say the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline could save the lives of many Arizonans and others facing a crisis.

The new three-digit number is a "shorthand" version of the previous 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in use since 2005. The new number uses a caller's area code to link them to local, confidential mental-health services regardless of their ability to pay.

Beth Brady, senior director of brand development for the crisis service Solari, which along with La Frontera manages the system in Arizona, said while three-digit access is a new wrinkle, the state has a history of providing crisis services.

"In Arizona, we have been answering the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls for almost a decade," Brady pointed out. "I think one of the things that's important to note is that 988 is being unveiled as this new thing, but actually it's an evolution of the 10-digit national suicide prevention number."

Congress approved the 988 system in 2020, and it became operational earlier this month. Brady noted it provides 24/7 access to more than a dozen Arizona assistance programs for individuals experiencing thoughts of suicide, a mental-health or substance-use crisis, or any other type of emotional distress.

The need for crisis services is growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2020, Arizona's suicide rate was 17.6 per 100,000 people, with almost 1,400 deaths, well above the national rate of 13.5 with 46,000 deaths.

Brady believes many of those lives can be saved if it is easier to find help.

"You would never think twice if you are having a heart attack to contact 911," Brady emphasized. "I think that one of the really exciting things that we aren't talking about as much yet is how 988 is going to change the conversation."

Brady added distressed individuals often suffer in silence, but if people see someone who appears to be in crisis, they should reach out to 988.

"The person needs to be willing to get help and treatment," Brady acknowledged. "But as a friend or family member, you can absolutely call, get resources, maybe get some suggestions for how to best approach the person that you're worried about."

A new book by a University of Washington professor on the death penalty finds support for executions may be motivated by people's own fear of death.

Philip Hansten, professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Washington and author of "Death Penalty Bulls---," argues against the practice.

Hansten draws on work by Ernest Becker, an anthropologist who said reminding people of their own mortality made them cling tighter to their cultural views and even increases people's punitive urges in order to defend their culture.

Hansten suggested hearing about a murder could cause somebody to think more about death, especially if it happens in their community.

"The murderers are an out group in general; I mean most of us aren't murderers," Hansten pointed out. "So the murderer is automatically an out group, somebody who we would tend to protect our culture from anyway."

Hansten argued it could make people more likely to support the death penalty. He also noted the fear of death can inspire xenophobia and racism in people who feel they need to protect their culture.

Becker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death led to the creation of a study known as Terror Management Theory.

Hansten contended Becker's theory puts death row in a new light.

"If the terror of death has such a huge influence on all of us, putting people on death row for decades, it would be hard for me to imagine something more cruel than that," Hansten stated.

Hansten added Terror Management Theory also makes it clear people do not necessarily create their views on issues like the death penalty with their rational minds.

"You give them all this data and all the rational arguments and show how it's totally arbitrary, etc., etc., and it just falls on deaf ears because this death terror is preventing them from hearing it," Hansten emphasized.

Seventy percent of the royalties for Hansten's book go to the group Death Penalty Focus.

Most South Dakotans live in federally designated mental-health professional shortage areas, and a new report recommended steps Congress and other decision-makers can take to help states close gaps within the behavioral health workforce, amid a growing demand for mental-health services and a shortage of licensed providers.

Kendall Strong, senior policy analyst for the health project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said one solution is to enhance the role of those with mental-health training who do not have the full credentials. She argued behavioral-health support specialists are certainly up to the task.

"These people are underutilized," Strong contended. "They have a lot to offer because part of the folks that we're talking about are folks like peer-support specialists, who have lived experiences and can really connect with folks who are struggling."

Others in the group are community health workers and paraprofessionals. The report recommends reducing barriers for them to take on bigger roles in behavioral health, including adopting a certification framework to promote flexibility but still protect patients.

Strong acknowledged a divided Congress might provide obstacles but added there is optimism with both parties recognizing the provider shortage.

The report advised pulling in more help can free up licensed providers who are dealing with patient backlogs. Strong added behavioral health support specialists are embedded in the community and can meet in a nonclinical setting. She suggested it can be especially helpful in rural areas where mental-health stigma still might exist.

"In areas where there is just less infrastructure visibility as compared to urban areas, it's really clear if you're going into a health care facility," Strong noted.

The report also called on federal officials to explore expanding Medicaid and Medicare coverage of services provided by behavioral-health support specialists.

The Kaiser Family Foundation said South Dakota has nearly 60 areas with provider shortage designations, which affects nearly 800,000 residents.

A recently proposed plan has been devised to better fund Virginia's mental-health programs.

The new Right Help, Right Now plan calls for $230 million in funding for upgrades to the state's mental-health system.

Some elements of the plan include expanding mental-health programs in schools, growing tele-behavioral health operations in high schools and college campuses, and creating more than 30 mobile crisis centers.

However, some feel the plan is a good start with more to be done.

Bruce Cruser - executive director of Mental Health America in Virginia - said in the past, more money has been put toward hospital care than community care. Although this plan changes that dynamic, he outlined what else needs to be addressed in the state's mental-health landscape.

"What we don't see there is funding for the Community Services Board's employees," said Cruser, "and they're really the front line of care in the community to help prevent people from having to go into the hospital. And so, what we'd really like to see is some additional funding to make up the ground for the Community Services Board, the direct care staff."

The plan finds 106 of Virginia's 133 counties are classified as having a mental-health professional shortage.

Cruser said the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated existing flaws in Virginia's mental-health system. This resulted in less people being able to get the help they needed.

While he said it's fortunate to see the attention this plan is creating, he noted that it's a shame it took years of crisis to reach this turning point.

Although the plan has great support, Cruser also noted that there will be challenges to implementing this plan. Specifically, he noted that the pay rate from insurance or Medicaid needs to be increased.

But, Cruser said he feels there are two elements of this plan which ensure people won't always end up in hospitals for behavioral-health issues.

"The mobile crisis and the crisis receiving centers would help build up that continuum of care in the community so that people don't have to end up going to the hospital," said Cruser, "They can get the care they need, they can get the crisis resolved, they can find the services that they need in the community with much better outcomes."

He added that this would boost the state's mental-health system a lot.

Over the Virginia General Assembly's next legislative session, Cruser said he is eager to see this proposed plan become a package of legislation that'll advance the state's mental-health system.