A mental-health hotline saw a 116% increase in texts during coronavirus lockdowns and expects COVID-19 to take a psychological toll for years to come

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• The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home measures have without question impacted people's mental health.
• Business Insider recently spoke to Ashley Womble, head of communications at Crisis Text Line, a free mental health hotline that works in the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland.
• Womble said the number of suicide interventions actually went down in the past three months, when most countries were under some form of lockdown.
• More middle-aged people have been using the service, and the predominant complaint among users has been anxiety.
• While text volume is returning to pre-coronavirus levels, Womble said she believes the outbreak will have a long-term impact on mental health.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The high-profile suicides of two New York City medical workers has raised questions about how much the coronavirus outbreak is impacting people's mental health.

In early May, President Donald Trump suggested there would be a spike in suicides if lockdowns continued, but the truth appears to be more complicated.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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• How Germany tackled the coronavirus: 9 people tell us they are thankful for good leadership and a robust health system
• Law enforcement mysteriously seized hundreds of face masks that were being mailed to George Floyd protesters, rights group says
• Bars across Arkansas were allowed to reopen this week. 2 bar owners in the state told us why they're not doing it.

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