REPORT: Mental health officials say crisis calls in Georgia are up 12%

ATLANTA — There has been a rise in mental health crisis calls here in Georgia. Local and state leaders said there’s a drastic increase in people calling the crisis hotline 988.

For the past week, Shontinia Drayton has been walking up and down the streets of Metro Atlanta, looking for her daughter, 25-year-old Brittany Stallings, who suffers from Schizoaffective Disorder.

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Drayton said her daughter checked herself out of a crisis center in Dekalb County on Friday, “She’s gone, and we have not seen her since. I can’t sleep. I’ve been out on these streets. We’ve been putting out messages.”

Local, state, and national leaders met in Downtown Atlanta to address mental health issues and the new crisis suicide and lifeline number called 988.

“We’re seeing a 12% increase in the last year in the call volume,” said Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Kevin Tanner.

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Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Kevin Tanner said that number drastically increased after the Midtown shooting at Northside Medical Center.

Police said 24-year-old Deion Patterson shot five women and killed one. Patterson’s mother said he was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time of the incident.

Tanner also said, “It’s okay not to be okay, and it’s also okay to seek help.”

That’s a message Drayton is hoping her daughter hears loud and clear, “Brittany, we love you. We miss you. We want you home. You’re not in any kind of trouble.”

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