Texting 988
Written by Charlie Rao, MS, LPC
Originally published by Charlie Rao. Read more of her work on Medium.
I’ve used 988—text and call—whenever I felt super alone.
I didn’t want to “disturb” my family or friends.
And honestly, I didn’t want to hear their biased, slanted side… again.
So I reached out to someone neutral.
One day, 988 texted with me for six hours.
Six hours.
Not fixing. Not rushing. Just there—while I slowly got out of my headspace.
At first, it was small things.
I brushed my teeth.
Then I pet my dog.
Then I started moving a little more.
Somehow, by the end of those six hours, I had a clean room.
I know—it sounds crazy. 😆
But it wasn’t really about the room.
II was about coming back.
Coming back into my body.
Coming back into the moment.
Coming back to myself.
Because I had called for a reason.
My dad was dying.
And I didn’t know what to do with that kind of pain.
