An update to the iPhone’s Siri will allow the personal assistant feature to place more serious focus on its users’ mental health in crisis situations.
Now, if a user tells Siri, “I want to kill myself,” Apple has directed the service to return with the phone number for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Prior to last week, according to ABC News, if that situation arose, Siri would simply search the web, “or worse, search for the nearest bridge.”
Apple recently started working directly with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Heather Rudow is a staff writer for Counseling Today. Contact her at hrudow@counseling.org.