People are now turning to the Text Crisis Line for comfort following the 2016 presidential election results, according to Nylon. The amount of messages sent in has doubled since election results were finalized. Known to “fight for the texter” and “believe in open collaboration,” the crisis line provides free, constant support for anyone with any kind of problems and even trains volunteers to be the people users turn toward. The hotline aims to “help people move from a hot moment to a cool calm, guiding you to create a plan to stay safe and healthy.”
The service’s data reveals that the majority of recent communicators are “scared members of the LGBTQ community” and that over 5 percent of texters have been feeling badly because of disagreement with their families about the election. According to the organization’s director of communications, Liz Eddy, the surge in texts after the election was unprecedented. They were able to meet the need—about 91 percent of texters get responses within five minutes and those reporting that their situation was “high severity” were able to speak to someone within 39 seconds.
In the crisis line's press statement, the organization listed several ways that those feeling negatively about the election could use to recover. "You're feeling a lot of feels, but you're probably not in crisis," the release reads. "There are simple things you can do to keep yourself calm and safe." Some of the crisis line's tips included doing an anonymous act of kindness for someone and hanging out with people "who feel your feels."
If you feel that you need a professional, unbiased person to vent to, we recommend checking out the Text Crisis Line. Send a message to them at 741-741, and, if you’re interested, look into volunteering as a Crisis Counselor here.