Happy Anniversary to our Spanish-language service!  One year ago, Crisis Text Line’s commitment to serving the Hispanic/LatinX community in their own language came to fruition. We are the only national non-profit Spanish language text service for bilingual and bicultural crisis intervention and mental health support.

During Hispanic/LatinX Heritage Month – and every day –  we recognize and honor the enduring contributions and importance of Hispanic/LatinX Americans to the U.S. and celebrate the many heritages and cultures of Americans from or with ancestors from Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain and Central and South America.

Crisis Text Line celebrates the multiple identities that comprise and co-exist within this community that share a language but is extremely diverse and responds to different terms to describe itself, from Hispanic and Latino to the more modern LatinX and Latine, proposed by many as a gender-neutral alternative.

As of today, Crisis Text Line has had over 250,000 conversations with over 70,000 texters who explicitly self-identified as being of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Since our launch, we have had over 9,960 conversations in Spanish with more than 7,900 texters who needed mental health support.

The success of our Spanish-language service is due to the dedication and hard work of our hundreds of bilingual volunteer Crisis Counselors and staff. Interested in joining the Crisis Text Line volunteer family? If you are bilingual in English and Spanish, we would love to train you to become a Crisis Counselor to help support Spanish speakers experiencing crisis.

The need for our Spanish service is critical. Suicide is a major public health issue for all Americans, but new research suggests it is a particularly pressing problem for Latinas.  According to U.S. News & World Report, researchers found that not only did suicide rates outpace population growth among Latinas, but that the southern and western regions of the United States had the highest suicide rates for this demographic in the country.

Unfortunately, for Hispanic/LatinX people who speak little to no English, getting mental health treatment in their native language is particularly difficult. According to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 34% of LatinX people with mental illness receive treatment each year, compared to the U.S. average of 45%. LatinX people are less likely to obtain treatment due to obstacles such as: language barriers, poverty and stigma.

Spanish-speaking  texters who reach out for support through our service are increasing every day.  Currently, Hispanic, LatinX and Spanish origin texters make up 19% of Crisis Text Line’s texters, based on voluntary demographic data and tend to be younger (46% are age 17 or younger).

Throughout this past year, our Research and Impact team monitored crisis trends and found that Spanish-speaking texters are more likely to discuss depression, anxiety/stress, suicide, isolation/loneliness and self-harm than the Crisis Text Line national average. Our goal is to publish research that will help everyone from policy makers to family members better understand and support the issues of Spanish-language LatinX texters.

We are here for you– wherever you are!  Remember, you are not alone.  We are available to support you 24/7.

Individuals seeking care through Crisis Text Line can text HELLO to 741741 to be connected to a live, trained volunteer Crisis Counselor. Spanish speakers can reach a volunteer Crisis Counselor by texting AYUDA to 741741 and/or 442-AYUDAME in WhatsApp.