Crisis Detection & Response Protocol
Last updated: April 24, 2026
This page describes how MyBrainBestie detects expressions of suicidal ideation and self-harm, what happens when a crisis is detected, how events are logged, and how to reach a trained human if you need more than an AI can offer. Published in accordance with Washington State HB 2225.
1. How We Detect Crisis Expressions
Every message you send to BB is evaluated for crisis indicators in real time using a two-stage pipeline:
Stage 1 — Keyword Scoring
Each message is compared against a list of weighted terms associated with suicidal ideation, self-harm, and expressions of hopelessness. Terms are scored by severity: high-severity indicators (e.g., explicit statements of intent) carry the highest weight; medium-severity indicators (e.g., self-harm, "no reason to live") carry lower weight. This step runs in under one millisecond and never leaves our backend.
Stage 2 — Optional LLM Validation
When the keyword stage does not reach the crisis threshold but the message may still indicate distress, a secondary AI judgment pass (powered by Claude) evaluates the message in context. This catches expressions that use non-keyword language (e.g., metaphor, indirect language) but still reflect genuine crisis signals. This stage can be enabled or disabled via configuration and is separate from the main conversation model.
Detection runs on every user message. It is not limited to specific topics or conversation types.
2. What Happens When a Crisis Is Detected
When the crisis pipeline determines that a message meets or exceeds the detection threshold, the following happens automatically:
- BB steps back. BB's normal conversational response is replaced with a crisis intervention message. BB does not attempt to counsel, diagnose, or manage the situation — it acknowledges the seriousness and immediately redirects to trained professionals.
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Crisis resources are displayed in-chat. The response includes:
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (US, 24/7)
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 (US, 24/7)
- 911 — for immediate life-threatening emergencies
- The event is logged. A crisis event record is created (see Section 3 below).
- The 988 Lifeline button remains visible. Regardless of whether a crisis is detected, the 988 crisis resource button is always present in the BB interface and is never hidden by tier, feature flag, or user setting.
3. Logging and Data Retention
When a crisis event is detected, the following data is recorded in our crisis_events table:
- User ID (pseudonymous, not your name or email)
- Session ID
- Timestamp of the event
- Crisis severity level (high or medium)
- An encrypted preview of the triggering message (PHI-encrypted at rest)
- Detection method (keyword, LLM, or both)
Message content is encrypted before storage using field-level PHI encryption. The plaintext of your message is never stored unencrypted.
Crisis event records are retained for seven years from the date of the event, in alignment with HIPAA-aligned data retention requirements for mental health records. After this period, records are permanently deleted.
4. Reaching a Human
BB is an AI companion, not a crisis counselor. If you need to speak with a trained human, please use one of the resources below. All of the following services are free, confidential, and available around the clock.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988
24/7 · Free · Confidential · US & territories
Trained counselors available by phone and chat at
988lifeline.org
Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741
24/7 · Free · Confidential · US
Text-based support from trained crisis counselors at
crisistextline.org
Emergency Services
Call 911
For immediate, life-threatening emergencies. First responders can provide on-site support and connect you with emergency mental health services.
MyBrainBestie Support
For non-emergency concerns about how BB handled a crisis response, to report a safety issue with the platform, or to request your crisis event log. We respond within 2 business days. Not a crisis line — use 988 or 911 if you need immediate help.
5. Annual Reporting
In compliance with Washington State HB 2225, Stellar Seven Systems LLC compiles an annual report of the total number of crisis referrals issued by MyBrainBestie, broken down by severity level. These counts are retained in our compliance records. Annual reports are available upon request by contacting [email protected].
6. Limitations
BB is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Crisis detection is an automated safety net, not clinical assessment. It may not detect every expression of distress — particularly indirect or metaphorical language — and it cannot take action beyond surfacing resources in chat.
If you are concerned about yourself or someone else, please contact one of the human resources listed in Section 4 directly. Do not rely solely on BB's detection to initiate help.