Sometimes you want to talk to someone who understands — in the case of teenagers, another teenager, because what other peer group could possibly relate better?

There’s no denying the adolescent/teen years are a confusing time of life. Today there are more challenges and stressors on teens than ever before. Stress to succeed, pressure from peers, bullying, sexual identity issues and substance abuse are all stressors which can lead a teen into depression or worse.

Teen Link, established in 1996 in Seattle, was born after 16-year-old Audra Letnes died at the hands of her boyfriend who had abused her for over a year. She didn’t tell her mother and was estranged from her friends. She had no resource to turn to.

Today, Alaina Blythe, 16, and Andrew Hansen, 17, are outreach volunteers for Teen Link in Issaquah/Sammamish. Blythe is a junior at Skyline High School and Hansen is a senior at Issaquah High School. Both are in the Running Start program where classes count for fulfillment of high school and college credit. Hansen’s classes are all at Bellevue College and Blythe is at Seattle Central.

They look like your average teens, but they are anything but. They are dedicated volunteers, reaching out to help teens in need.

“There’s no one face for Teen Link,” Blythe said.

Teen volunteers are the backbone of Teen Link. Blythe is the chair of the peer advisory board. She and Hansen addressed the Issaquah City Council during the budget hearing Dec. 3, and as a result of their testimony, Teen Link will receive $3,000 from Issaquah in 2013, a 20 percent increase from this year.

Teen Link is under the umbrella of Crisis Clinic, which was established in 1964. Carrie McBride, the development and community relations manager for Crisis Clinic just received news that Teen Link has become the first teen help line to be accredited by Contact USA, the organization which accredits crisis lines across the U.S. and has a network of crisis intervention centers across the nation.

Blythe said Teen Link is one of very few organizations in the U.S. specifically for teens.

She said the phone volunteers, who go through 70-80 hours of training, have received calls from all over the country and the world.

With this new accreditation, Teen Link will be used as a prototype for programs across the U.S.

There is always someone to talk to 24/7, although the teen volunteers are only on the phone from 6-10 p.m.; but Crisis Clinic has over 250 volunteers. Blythe said sometimes though, a teen just feels more comfortable speaking to another teen.

“Honestly, you can save a life with five minutes of your time,” Hansen said.

Teens who don’t want to talk, can “chat” live online three nights a week, too.

There is no single reason a teen calls in. Hansen said it’s generally a combination of various stressors.

They both said the LBGTQ youth are stressed out, and that nine out of 10 in this group are bullied at school.

Phone volunteers have fielded calls regarding struggles in school, fights with parents, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, and teens having a rough day or who are on the streets and need a place to stay.

“We’ve actually had a call where someone was absolutely sure they were pregnant, and they hadn’t had sex,” Blythe said.

There are some substance abuse calls, but Hansen said that’s really more of a coping mechanism for teens.

Suicide is an issue.

“One in 10 will attempt suicide, one in five will seriously consider it,” Blythe said.

They both said the reason the public doesn’t hear about suicide is because of the attached stigma. Ten percent of the calls Teen Link fields are suicide related. Blythe said there are two to three youth suicides a week in Washington, with an unusually high number in Issaquah. Youth suicides usually occur in clusters, she said, where one youth will commit suicide and others will follow.

“We really consider it taboo to discuss suicide in our culture,” she said.

She said there’s usually a verbal cue and it should be taken seriously.

In 2011, there were seven suicides in Issaquah, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office annual report. Overall, there were 265 suicides for the year in King County; 11 of those were suicides among persons 19 years and younger.

Abusive relationships, like the one Letnes was in, or the power and control cycle are more common now.

“We are the recovery line (for anything),” Hansen said.

Blythe said she started to volunteer for Teen Link when she was in the eighth grade. She had a friend who was in crisis – he had self-harm issues but is doing fine now. She found help for him through Teen Link. She said most of the volunteers coming into the program have some community service background. Not surprisingly, she is studying the social sciences. Many of the Teen Link volunteers are interested in the field.

“It’s such a unique organization,” Blythe said.

Hansen started volunteering in March.

“I was trying to find a job, and I thought Teen Link would be good,” he said. “I was diagnosed with depression in the ninth grade so I thought this would be cool.”

Hansen is not sure where he’ll go with his education, but his interests are psychology and music.

If you are in need of help call Teen Link at 1-866-TEENLINK or chat at www.866TEENLINK.org. The24-hour crisis line is at 1-866-4CRISIS.