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Melissa Yingst Huber

Since 1949, the month of May has been recognized as National Mental Health Awareness Month, when advocates all over the country devote time to bringing awareness to mental health issues that affect more people than we realize. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Americans will be affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime and every American has been affected or impacted through their friends or family. Statistics also show that more people die from suicide in the United States than from traffic accidents or homicides. We also lose 22 veterans to suicide every day.

Unfortunately, because of the stigma attached to mental illness, many people are uncomfortable seeking the help they need for themselves or their loved ones. But there are many available resources out there. Crisis Text Line (CTL) is a resource, and the unique aspect about CTL is that they operate via text, which can be beneficial for many Deaf and Hard of Hearing users. CTL was first established in August 2013 and has quickly grown since. CTL receives approximately 50,000 texts each day from people needing help during a crisis, many of them Deaf and Hard of Hearing users. We reached out to Liz Eddy, Director of Communications for CTL who said that they have no way of knowing the exact number of texters that are Deaf or hard of hearing, because they don't ask for demographic information except in situations where it helps them to help the texter. CTL is completely anonymous. They do, however, know that hundreds of texters over the past two years have disclosed that they are Deaf or hard of hearing.

There are surely countless more who haven't disclosed this, either to protect their own identity or because it didn't come up. CTL also has Deaf and Hard of Hearing Crisis Counselors that volunteer for the hotline. They began training in the Fall of 2015 for two reasons, the first being that Deaf and Hard of Hearing people were seeking accessible volunteer opportunities, and CTL wanted to be able to provide them with a positive training experience. The other reason was that Deaf and Hard of hearing people in crisis were choosing CTL as an accessible alternative rather than a phone hotline, so they knew it was important that their volunteer base adequately represent the population they serve.

DTV News had the opportunity to chat with Aileen Aldalur, a graduate student at Gallaudet University in their Clinical Psychology Ph.D program, and she is also one of the CTL Deaf volunteers. We inquired about her experience. Aileen says that volunteering for CTL was the perfect opportunity for her to contribute to helping Deaf people have access to better Mental Health services, and the experience has been positive.

Aileen: My experience as a crisis counselor [for CTL] has been wonderful. I feel like I have been able to save many lives and make a difference. I feel inspired during every shift that I work. CTL has provided me with that opportunity. All of the training I underwent was online and completely accessible with captioning for all videos and presentations. I didn’t feel any different from the other counselors Most of the time as a deaf person it is a struggle to find a way to give back and help others as communication is often limited, but working with CTL I do not have to worry about that. They provided me with an opportunity to make a difference in the world.