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Callers keep flooding 988 mental health, suicide helpline

988 Call Center Director Jamieson Brill poses for a photo in front of a desk where work workers take calls around the clock at a facility in Hyattsville, Md., Oct. 7, 2022. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls around the clock from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency. (AP Photo/Amanda Seitz) FILE - Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks during a press conference on the kickoff of 988, a new national mental health hotline, Friday, July 15, 2022, in Philadelphia. The press conference took place in front of the Contemplation, Clarity and Resilience mural by artist Eric Okdeh, which is a mural that represents, among many other things, the process of overcoming hardships. (Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File) FILE - A man uses a cell phone in New Orleans, Aug. 11, 2019. The 988 mental health and suicide helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched. It has received just over 2 million calls, texts and chat message since July. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) FILE - Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, speaks at the podium during a press conference on the kickoff of 988, a new national mental health hotline, in West Philadelphia, July 15, 2022. The press conference took place in front of the Contemplation, Clarity and Resilience mural by artist Eric Okdeh, which is a mural that represents, among many other things, the process of overcoming hardships. (Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File) 988 Call Center Director Jamieson Brill poses for a photo in front of a desk where work workers take calls around the clock at a facility in Hyattsville, Md., Oct. 7, 2022. Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls around the clock from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency. (AP Photo/Amanda Seitz)