INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ A mental health group based in Indianapolis needs more volunteers for its crisis hotline to cope with a rise in suicide rates.
The number of calls made to the Mental Health America of Greater Indianapolis' crisis line has increased by about 16 percent along with an increase in suicides.
The Indianapolis Star reports 32 volunteers handled almost 10,000 calls last year. This year, the 24-hour hotline has 23 workers.
Suicide rates in Indiana rose more than 50 percent from 1999 to 2010, with the state health department saying 867 people killed themselves in 2010.
The Indianapolis group has started a texting line for teenagers, because studies say nearly 19 percent of Indiana teens have seriously considered killing themselves.
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