By Lindsey Tanner of Associated Press

Quick help for suicide thoughts and other mental health emergencies will soon be as easy as 9-8-8. The United States’ first nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline goes live on Saturday July 16th. It connects with an existing network and is designed to be as simple to remember and use as 911. But instead of a dispatcher sending police or paramedics, 988 will connect callers with trained mental health counselors, and eventually much more. But it won’t happen overnight. Many states have a long way to go to get comprehensive systems in place.