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    • Special Report: Teens and Stress

    Crisis Text Line for Teens

    Video Transcript

    [DING] SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's the sound of someone in crisis sending a text message that could read--

    STUDENT 1: I'm afraid to go to class because I'll be bullied.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Or--

    STUDENT 2: I don't want to cut myself. Can you help?

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Within five minutes, a trained counselor will respond.

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: Hi, my name is [? Sara. ?] It sounds like you have a lot on your mind today. Do you want to tell me a little bit more about what's going on?

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Crisis text line, or CTL, is the first national 24/7 intervention hotline exclusively by text messaging. It offers anonymity, and it's as easy as 741-741. Just ask crisis counselor [? Sara Lukian. ?]

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: You could be bullied at school and just text between classes, or waiting at the bus stop. You can text from behind a closed door when you're maybe hiding or taking refuge from an abusive partner or relative. And nobody knows that you're doing it.

    [DING]

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Did another one just bling?

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: Yes. So I'm going to accept this texter.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Once a counselor at a traditional suicide hotline, [? Sara ?] now volunteers for CTL. Today, she's logged in at home for her four-hour shift.

    What was the biggest difference that you noticed from talking to people, hearing their voice, and texting with them?

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: Teens are so honest via text. They will cut right to the heart of what's bothering them.

    [DING]

    So that somebody joining the queue.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: So how long have you been in the space, then?

    Crisis Text Line is the brainchild of entrepreneur Nancy Lublin. Launched in 2013, while at the helm of DoSomething.org, the largest online youth organization, Lublin received a text message from a girl that stopped her in her tracks.

    NANCY LUBLIN: She texted us saying that she was being raped by her father, and we thought, we can't just send her a phone number. We did. We sent her a hotline, but we realized that it was so much deeper. If you were going to share something that personal, that intimate, that horrific with strangers, there was a need for a text line.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That text inspired CTL. Now 40,000 text messages, the majority from teenagers, are exchanged each day with crisis counselors around the country. That's more than 11 million messages since it started.

    So in a way, you're growing faster than Facebook.

    NANCY LUBLIN: We spread geographically faster than they did when they first launched. We launched quietly in Chicago and El Paso, and in four months we were in every area code in the United States.

    [DING] CRISIS COUNSELOR: I just heard back from the texter. Sounds like she's having some turmoil at home-- a lot of fighting in the house, not a lot of sleep.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: So what will you ask her to check?

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: The first thing I would want to know is if she's feeling suicidal. We like to do risk assessment as early in the conversation as possible. So I'm just going to respond.

    [TYPING] NANCY LUBLIN: If the pills are right there in front of them, then we trigger what's called an active rescue. So most of the time they tell us where they are, and then while the counselor is texting them, a supervisor-- who are paid mastered-level-degreed people on our staff-- triggers the active rescue, calls 911, and gets the police or EMT to go to that person.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. It resulted in approximately 5,500 lives lost last year. In 2013, 17% of high school students in the United States considered suicide. 14% had a suicide plan, and 8% attempted suicide one or more times.

    Bob Philbin is CTL's chief data scientist.

    SPEAKER: Crisis by day, crisis over time, crisis by state--

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He compiles all the confidential text messages that stream in to create a real-time map of crises in America.

    BOB PHILBIN: We thought when we started Crisis Text Line that bullying was going to be one of the primary issues. Instead, what we're seeing as the top issues are depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What he's discovered-- suicidal thoughts are more prevalent on Sundays. Arkansas is ranked number one for eating disorders. And substance abuse peaks at 7:00 AM. Remember the young person [? Sara ?] was texting with earlier?

    CRISIS COUNSELOR: She's not considering suicide, and she's just written that she actually has to go to class. So the way I'm going to end this conversation is just to say, again, I'm glad that you texted in. Remember that we're here 24/7 if you're in crisis.

    SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: For WebMD, I'm Soledad O'Brien.

    Teens and Stress

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      Teens Measure Their Emotional IQ
    • 4:47
      Loads of Homework + Teen = Stress
    • 4:51
      Crisis Text Line for Teens
    • 1:23
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