Have you ever called a suicide hotline?

Question

What was it like?

Not prank calling.

Answer 1

Nope, i don't like to tell people my personal problems.  Doesn't do any good anyhow!   I tend to keep my problems in the family these days!

Answer 2

Well, I worked on a suicide hotline for a few years.  

Suicide hotlines are really helpful for several kinds of situations.  Some people call just because they are feeling lonely, depressed, or anxious and just want to talk to someone about it.  We were trained to listen to these folks with compassion.

Other people call with questions about how to find a mental health counselor or other service in town.  We were trained to find this kind of information for them from our many resource books.

Sometimes the call is a real emergency, either a person seriously contemplating suicide, or a relative or friend trying to find help for someone acting dangerously. We were trained to get the location of the person needing help, call 911, and also send out a mental health counselor to the scene.

So, don't be afraid to call a suicide hotline if you need to.  The people answering are NOT trained mental health counselors, most are volunteers, but they will help you any way they can. Your call is not recorded or traced.  If for any reason, you are not comfortable with the person who answers, try calling again in a few minutes.  There are usually several people working each shift.

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Added later:  Oops, I forgot.  I did call the hotline once, when a friend got very depressed and was saying scary things.  The hotline sent a counselor out to talk to him, and followed up with him the next day.  My friend said it saved his life.

Answer 3

I called an emergency counselling service once for people having a crisis. They were really good and made me an appointment to come into their offices the next day.

Answer 4

nops. i didn't want to.

Answer 5

I'm too stubborn to call one, even though I did think about it plenty of times.

Answer 6

Yes - and at first I was so appreciative of having a soothing understanding voice on the other end of the line, i wanted someone just to appreciate how I felt and not put me down as being stupid for feeling this way, then I felt extremely grateful for someone trying so hard to try and stop me following my inclinations through, then I felt angry at feeling that i was being patronised - being patted on the head and told 'there there it will all go away and you will feel better soon' - the quiet soothing voice, the understanding answers, the caring manner of speach, the you're not on your own lines, the what can i do to help lines, -  then i felt angry at being angry with someone who was just trying to help me and be there when i felt i had no-one to talk to, no-one who understood, then i decided i was being stupid in having this conversation in the first place ....... the point of this commentary is to try to get you to understand that the reality is you corner yourself when you don't talk to someone - someone you trust - be they someone you know or trust because they don't know you and can't see you and would never know you if they passed less thatn 6 inches awa=y ..... your predicament is caused and encouraged through you trying to tell yourself to pee in a corner of a round barrel, to handle all your issues and problems by yourself, to be the only person you talk to ..... that voice on the other end of line is often the light you have so desperately been seeking - it doesn't shine a light on a way out - it shines a light on helping you to see and recognise your own ability to finding your own way out .....

I hope this helps

best wishes

Answer 7

I called them and talked to them.  They were very nice and kind.  They gave me information about community resources.  If you are in the USA then you can call the suicide hotlines.  I called the one with talk in the number. 1-800-273-TALK  the rounted the call to someone in my area.

http://suicidehotlines.com/