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Donald Trump Win Results In Suicide Hotline Calls Skyrocketing, Especially Among LGBTQ Community

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 16:05 PST, Nov 11, 2016

In the darkest hours of the morning of November 9, it became clear that Donald Trump had scored a presidential victory; that was the same time that calls to the nation’s suicide hotlines began to spike to an unheard of degree. According to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s John Draper, he’d never seen anything as devastating and drastic as the impact of Donald Trump’s win on the number of suicide hotline calls received by his organization.

As CNN reports, Draper claims that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s call volume doubled or tripled as news broke of Donald Trump’s unbelievable and unexpected presidential upset. In a single hour, between 1 and 2 a.m., Draper says that over 650 desperate individuals called the suicide hotline he is affiliated with alone.

The unmistakable reaction to the election of Donald Trump this week wasn’t limited to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In fact, Trump’s electoral college supremacy had a “pretty undeniable” impact on the number of suicide prevention hotline calls across the entire country, with virtually every suicide prevention organization on the books reporting the same trend. As John Draper told the media, such an influx of suicidal individuals seeking immediate intervention and/or other assistance is virtually unprecedented in suicide hotline history.

“I can’t say I’ve seen anything like this. And it’s certainly not something I’ve ever seen in an election.”

That’s not to say that Donald Trump and his meteoric (but unexpected) rise to the highest office in the land is the only event in recent history that’s prompted masses of people to make suicide hotline calls. For example, the New York City suicide hotline saw their calls jump precipitously following September 11, 2001. Even Robin Williams’ suicide in 2014 triggered a surge in calls to the suicide prevention hotline.

However, after Robin William’s death, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline’s contact information was promoted heavily in a media blitz campaign. It is believed that the heavy promotion of the suicide hotline following Williams’ death was what led to an enormous increase in calls, rather than an increase in suicidal thoughts across the U.S.

In the case of Donald Trump’s presidential success, there was absolutely no suicide prevention hotline promotion or advertisement leading up to the event. An event that was reported by many suicide hotline callers to be “triggering.” It is believed that the avalanche of suicide hotline calls after Trump’s win was wholly organic and directly related to people who legitimately found themselves in a moment of mental health crisis.

“They call and say it’s the election. But by the end of the call, it’s about their lives, and that’s when we can help them.”

What’s worse? While the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline reports that desperate calls to the hotline tapered off and evened out, other suicide hotlines are still getting way more desperate calls than before Donald Trump won the election.

The Crisis Text Line connects texters to counselors, and that organization reports that after Trump pulled off his unexpected electoral sleight of hand, it dealt with eight times its normal volume of requests between midnight and 1 a.m. on November 9. The trend of increased text requests has continued, reports spokewoman Liz Eddy. Like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, this suicide prevention hotline reports that the majority of texts it received were related to Trump’s win.

The top two words texted to Crisis Text Line after Donald Trump won? “Scared” and “election.” The most common word texted along with “scared” was “LGBTQ.”

A suicide prevention hotline geared toward the LGBTQ community, The Trevor Project, reported that their call volume has doubled in the aftermath of the Donald Trump win, and it has stayed double in the days since. Over 95 percent of those who have contacted The Trevor Project since Trump’s victory have cited the election as their reason for needing immediate help.

“It’s been ongoing since Tuesday night. Young people are calling us who’ve never called us before. They’re scared, and they don’t know who to turn to. Given all the rhetoric that they’ve heard leading up to the election, it makes sense that they’re frightened.”

The rhetoric that the LGBTQ community and the rest of the country have heard from Donald Trump during the election cycle has certainly been devastating, and as such, many suicide prevention hotline counselors are not surprised by the mental health crisis’ that have followed the election. As LGBTQ Nation reports, Donald Trump alone has had some very derogatory, nasty, and frightening things to say about the LGBTQ community and their civil rights.

“If Congress considers the First Amendment Defense Act a priority, then I will do all I can to make sure it comes to my desk for signatures and enactment.”

For the unfamiliar, the First Amendment Defense Act would allow any person, business, or government employee to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, so long as they cite their religious freedom in doing so.

“We have some very terrible Supreme Court justices, and frankly, they should have at least had that [same-sex marriage case] as a state’s right issue.”

When talking about ensuring the continued rights and equal treatment of the LGBTQ community, President-elect Trump had some potentially life-shattering words for LGBTQ Americans.

“It’s something I haven’t given lots of thought to.”

Donald Trump also chose one of the most openly homophobic politicians in America as his running-mate, something that likely contributed to the number of post-election suicide hotline calls. The Indiana governor-turned VP-elect spent much of his political career trying to deny rights to the LGBTQ community, and was directly responsible for Indiana’s controversial “Religious Freedom” anti-LGBT law, SB 101. A law is very similar to the proposed First Amendment Defense Act, and allowed Indiana businesses and individuals to discriminate against the LGBT community with impunity, so long as that discrimination was in accordance with their deeply held religious convictions.

As LGBTQ Nation reports, before becoming Donald Trump’s VP-elect and spawning a record-breaking level of post-election suicide hotline calls, Mike Pence worked tirelessly to oppress the LGBTQ community. He supports a Constitutional amendment to outlaw marriage equality, tried to divert HIV funding to conversion therapy, and in 2013 even signed a bill that would have jailed same-sex couples simply for applying for marriage licenses. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

All of these things, combined with the shock of a win that Donald Trump wasn’t supposed to be able to pull off (at least according to 90 percent of the American media and pollsters) caused thousands and thousands of Americans (largely LGBTQ) to seek out life-saving assistance by making post-election suicide prevention hotline calls.

In these early stages of Donald Trump’s pre-presidency period, Americans continue to be unsettled and unsure; particularly “marginalized” Americans, such as women, religious and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and the LGBT community. For this reason, it’s expected that suicide hotline calls will continue to happen in larger-than-normal volumes. At least until America gets some answers and stability. Depending on the answers, the suicide hotline calls could peak again in the near future.

If you or anyone you know needs intervention or someone to talk to, here is a list of suicide prevention hotlines and services available to help 24/7.

What do you think? Were you one of the thousands who needed the help of a suicide hotline after Trump eked out an election win? Do you think that the trend of fear, anxiety, and depression will continue as the shock of Trump’s win wears off? Is it possible that Donald Trump will be able to repair relationships with marginalized Americans, thus largely negating the need for future many suicide hotline calls?

[Featured Image by a katz/Shutterstock]

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