As the years go on, more and more teens are dealing with emotional difficulties without having anyone to turn to. In the John Hopkins Health review, Joe Sugarman states, “The odds of adolescents suffering from clinical depression grew by 37 percent between 2005 and 2014”. There are too many teens left feeling alone, and thinking that there is no-one to help them through their hardships. A survey was taken by students and results were that they preferred texting over calling.  That’s where the Crisis Text Line comes in.

The Crisis Text Line, based in New York, is a free service to help those who are going through tough situations and who have no where else to turn. The Crisis text line originated from DoSomething.org, it works to help young people and social change. They accept volunteers as crisis counselors who answer the messages from those in need who contact the number.

This text line’s priority is making sure you get the help you need when you need it. To ensure this, they made their 24/7 text line convenient as possible.  Texting “HOME” to 741741 will allow teens to speak with a Crisis Counselor.  These Crisis Counselors are provided special training to help as much as possible during the time of someone’s crisis. In addition, their website provides a list of the most used words sent to the text line. Keywords such as sexual abuse, anxiety, bullying, and suicide are at the top of this list.

The response is quick, only taking a few minutes, making it useful in extremely stressful situations when you need support.  The Crisis Counselor will stay on the text line until the texter has calmed down and is deemed safe. The main goal is to help you, and if necessary, give you a referral for outside help. The text line takes donations which are used to keep it afloat and running at maximum efficiency. Check out their website and/or text the number to get help for yourself or for a friend.  Remember: you’re not alone.