A non-profit called Mental Health Association of New York City, Inc., DBA Vibrant Emotional Health, owns the 988 U.S. "suicide hotline."

[Onomatopoeia]

They got almost $300 million in funding from U.S. taxpayers in 2022. They got $530 million for 2023. Early word if $700 million for 2024. They use this money to pay their executives huge salaries, to trace every call and text that comes to them, to call police on you when you call them, and to provide a stimulus package to psyc wards and hospitals when they hit you with a $50,000 bill after you're locked up for 2 weeks, and are far worse off mentally when you were before.

I read these horror stories all the time. Cops taser people and even kill suicidal people in some instances. Why not just let the person kill themselves if you're going to call cops to kill them? You would really have to be naive or stupid to call 988 in the U.S. When I decided to CTB, I started researching 988 in the beginning because I was going to call. I could not find one positive story. All of them ended very sadly or worse. This forum has done me far more good than 988 ever could. I also read (not sure if real) that they have partnerships with ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Verizon and AT&T to disclose the person's information even if they blocked the call and/or use VPN.

This world truly is messed up.

 

[whywere]

From what I was able to find on the net the CEO pay is in the range of between $678,387 and $1,118,855 per year. YIKES!

To darn much as far as I am concerned. It should go helping folks out.

Walter

 

[Onomatopoeia]

From what I was able to find on the net the CEO pay is in the range of between $678,387 and $1,118,855 per year. YIKES!

To darn much as far as I am concerned. It should go helping folks out.

Walter

That's her base salary. But nonprofits are not required to disclose the names of their donors to the IRS. She, like all these nonprofit executives, gets tax-free "gifts" up to $18,000 per year from their biggest donors, who are likely hospital, pharmaceutical and psyc ward executives. It's the kickback for sending the donors more unwitting customers.

 

[dragonofenvy]

"Non-profit"

"CEO pay in the range of $678,387 and $1,118,855".

The Mental Health Association Of New York City Inc - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

Since 2013, the IRS has released data culled from millions of nonprofit tax filings. Use this database to find organizations and see details like their executive compensation, revenue and expenses, as well as download tax filings going back as far as 2001.

projects.propublica.org

This "non-profit" makes revenues in the tens of millions of dollars according to tax records. Lots of people are making money from vulnerable people who are hurting and they have the audacity to claim to be non-profit. They can fuck off.

Cops taser people and even kill suicidal people in some instances. Why not just let the person kill themselves if you're going to call cops to kill them?

In defense of the officers (I have a family member who used to be a police officer, so I will say I have a bias here), these are the most difficult calls to take as you're dealing with someone with nothing to lose and nothing to gain. Often these people will attempt to harm, or make it seem like they're going to harm officers or people around them in the most extreme cases as a way to commit suicide by cop. Many do genuinely want help, but many police officers have been killed trying to give them help. Personally, I don't think these hotlines should send the police in, but the people running them have no clue what a suicidal person actually feels. They just treat them as an other. Like they're afflicted with suicidal ideations, and if they do not comply with what the hotline says then they must be apprehended.

 

[wait.what]

I came here intending to post the short list of "no active rescue" hotlines that Trans Lifeline used to maintain. ("Active rescue = sending cops to your house, whether you want them there or not.) As far as I can tell, the list has been deleted. Trans Lifeline itself doesn't practice active rescue, and has open hours again, M to F. I don't know what to tell people in crisis who aren't trans or questioning.

That this place is always open, between DDOS attacks, I guess.

 

[onbekend]

Crazy how unreliable these really are. Given how they're literally nicknamed "lifelines" you'd think they would do a damn thing but I have never seen
them do a damn thing to help anyone. There's the statistic that supposedly ~70% of users who call 988 change their mind, but as far as I can tell it only makes their mindset worse from the callers perspective.
Hell, I even have personal experience to a degree. Someone I knew a few months back had called 988 only to get hung up on and practically laughed at. What a sick fucking joke.
It really is true that this site has probably done more good than the suicide prevention lifeline ever did.

 

[R_N]

Damn... Well... I can't really say I am that shocked. I know how humanity rolls by now.

 

[aWeeBitTired]

Last time I called I was crying and in genuine emotional need of support. The responder lacked any sympathy and didn't seem to care, I felt. They asked me questions about my SI, what my occupation was, and how I was thinking of killing myself. In the end I felt like a statistic to the government, another line in a spreadsheet. They gave me generic resources for online therapy (one of them being betterhelp ). And then said goodbye. Never calling again.

 

[dragonofenvy]

There's the statistic that supposedly ~70% of users who call 988 change their mind, but as far as I can tell it only makes their mindset worse from the callers perspective.

I wonder where they get the statistic from. Do they ask the callers? I doubt it. I bet it's something like
"Hi, I'm calling because just, for years I've felt so bad and I just need someone to talk to because nobody ever cares and I just want to kill myself."
"Okay, have you tried taking a hot shower?"
"What?"
"Have you tried taking a hot shower?"
"Uuuuuuh, yes. That doesn't... I'm going to go now."

Mission success! They changed their mind. Add that to the survey!

The example I gave btw is the short version of what happened when I tried using a text line. Along with the "You're so brave!" lines and the links to resources for online therapy that I've already seen since I too know how to use the internet to search for things but they think not.

 

[Relic]

I wonder where they get the statistic from. Do they ask the callers? I doubt it. I bet it's something like
"Hi, I'm calling because just, for years I've felt so bad and I just need someone to talk to because nobody ever cares and I just want to kill myself."
"Okay, have you tried taking a hot shower?"

Isn't it interesting that they rarely ask if there is anything that would make you reconsider? It's like they are afraid of the answer and the responsibility that may come from it. If people start asking for better healthcare and $1M salaries, that same "lifeline" might laugh in people's faces that they should off themselves. Wouldn't even be surprised if those 70% who called were not actually serious about checking out before the call, but changed their mind after.

 

[onbekend]

I wonder where they get the statistic from. Do they ask the callers? I doubt it. I bet it's something like
"Hi, I'm calling because just, for years I've felt so bad and I just need someone to talk to because nobody ever cares and I just want to kill myself."
"Okay, have you tried taking a hot shower?"
"What?"
"Have you tried taking a hot shower?"
"Uuuuuuh, yes. That doesn't... I'm going to go now."

Mission success! They changed their mind. Add that to the survey!

The example I gave btw is the short version of what happened when I tried using a text line. Along with the "You're so brave!" lines and the links to resources for online therapy that I've already seen since I too know how to use the internet to search for things but they think not.

Corporations do this shit all the time where they define stuff very vaguely to benefit them and also not go against their own words. So yeah, The way that you described that studies criteria is probably pretty accurate then, Whether or not the person on the other end wants to see you get better is irrelevant because ultimately their main goal is having you as a statistic (I guess to prove to others just how good they are at what they do). I have actually heard NOTHING positive about the suicide hotline in all of my experience, They just wanna maintain their reputation.

 

[dragonofenvy]

I have actually heard NOTHING positive about the suicide hotline in all of my experience, They just wanna maintain their reputation.

To be fair to them, what exactly are they supposed to do? I mean what really can they do? I'm not sure how much a crisis line can really do for someone, but the people calling into them want to be heard. A great step forward for them would be to actually listen and not be so generic. I'll take quality over quantity. That's not how they roll though.

 

[Cara7177]

988 is useless. I actually called 3 times in one day in January. They hung up on me every time. That night I ingested pills and got into bed, and at about 3 in the morning I got the shock of my life…NYPD showed up and dragged me off for a week of involuntary commitment.