Discussion did anyone ever call one of those helplines?

[spiderwebz]

so whenever i look for this site these mental health emergency numbers pop up and it got me wondering - do these actually do anything? what do the people on the other side say? is it helpful in any way? i don't wanna try it because i hate phone calls but I'm very curious about it.

 

[soolka]

i tried it once, was put on hold for a long time and the responses i got to my problems were very vague. it annoyed me and i hung up

 

[Salvation_]

They can't offer personalized responses because they don't want to be responsible if anything goes wrong. It's just a job where you use the same cookie cutter responses. AFAIK if you display any signs of actually CTB'ing, they could forward your info to the police for a welfare check.

 

[exploitedbacteria]

I would suggest avoiding. Called a hotline once and they sent social workers to my house, sent me a $1000 bill afterwards. You can literally tell them you are okay now and they will still send someone to make money.

 

[Goghni]

Once. It was a massive mistake.

You'll end up finding your way through their script quickly and they'll ask for your personal details to provide further assistance by the end. If you can keep your number private then do so, otherwise they could legally locate you within an hour as an emergency if they can prove you said you fully intend to exit on the call.

The numbers are not any REAL help if such a thing does exist, they're a very low cost distraction for them to operate, and a conversation always has a possibility of being a very stimulating distraction. So it boils down to whether you really just want someone to rant to, in which case it would be helpful to you. For me I would consider that to be just fooling myself.

 

[notwhereIbelong]

I did hear about people getting so mad about the absurdity of being put on hold by a suicide hotline that they temporarily "got over" being suicidal
So they can work in a way, just not the intended one

 

[Chica.Lunar]

I had call once and the dude actually save my life, i had a bunch of Clonazepam with alcohol, did a few drugs and start cutting myself I guess out of drunkness ive call and he send an ambulance to my house (i was working hard not to tell any personal info, but again, i was drunk and all drugged). I don't remember anything about the chat but his name was Miguel and he was making me laugh.
Don't know how American lines are but i wasn't pull on hold any time there and wasn't charge anything.

 

[Tobacco]

When I've felt really bad I've thought about calling just to complain about life.

I don't think they can help a lot (unless to tell you not to do it because of your family (reason I'm still here)) because I've been several months with a therapist and I feel like she can't help either.

 

[wiltingorchid]

I once did call them, i had to wait for about 15 minutes until i got to speak to someone. It is kinda relieving because you can vent and rant to someone about your problems, but in the end, i felt like i was treated just like anybody else. They have lots of people call them everyday, and they propably forget about you. At least that's what i experienced.

 

[SantasHelper]

I tried once. They told me someone would get to me. I waited over an hour. And I gave up cause nobody got back to me. I was feeling really suicidal that night

 

[unsaiddes]

I used a text hotline once because I was home with family and in a dark place - not on the verge of attempting but under extreme stress and crushed by self-hatred. I still got paranoid that the person I was texting would switch up on me and send someone to my house, so I pretended that I was feeling stable enough to end the conversation.

I'm sure it can be helpful for plenty of people and whoever you end up speaking to can offer emotional support and practical resources, but if you find yourself lying to avoid the worst case scenario of the interaction it's useless.

 

[AndroidAmongHumans]

I've called different suicide hotlines 5 times, and they all literally follow the same script. "Hello, can I have your name and your date of birth?... So how are you feeling today/Why are you calling?... Are you currently in therapy?... Are you on any medications?... Have you tried deep breathing exercises?... Have you talked to your family or friends for support?... Have you tried writing in a journal about your feelings?... Are you going to hurt yourself if I hang up?... Do I need to send the police to your location to escort you to the hospital?... Okay, have a nice evening and remember it always gets better and you always have people you can reach out to!" (end of call)

 

[PinkSakura]

I spoke to Samaritans once, useless. They just "listen" and go "uhum" "yeah" "okay". I guess if you want to vent they maybe helpful, that's about it. In my experience it was like talking to a brick wall

 

[Inactive User]

Messaged one when I was thirteen, they didn't really give a fuck. Offered no comfort but more prodded into my reasons. Some of them must be nice, but the resources for help are severely lacking

 

[lumipallo]

Called once. All they did was schedule a therapist visit after 2 days.
The therapist herself was horrible, I couldn't believe the banal statements she was making. Very obviously someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Left me feeling horrible afterwards. No help and a "it will get better :)" therapist.
Dang, I'm still bitter about that.

 

[SoftWorries]

I've called them minimum 30 times. There are sometimes online chats too. It's been effective in helping me get through flashbacks and suicidal panic attacks. Often they're able to get me centered enough to continue my day and avoid hospitalization.

I solely call with an online number that can't be traced back to me and don't provide my location just in case

 

[SuffrInSilence]

so whenever i look for this site these mental health emergency numbers pop up and it got me wondering - do these actually do anything? what do the people on the other side say? is it helpful in any way? i don't wanna try it because i hate phone calls but I'm very curious about it.

Yea. It's 50/50, the training on most of them is patchy so you get some useless people but some alright people. They can't fix anything but they listen. Good for if you're panicky- they can help calm you down and think through things logically, less good with general despair. What people are saying about them calling the police - I can't speak to other countries but in the uk at least, there are no hospital beds anyway, if you chose to give your full name and address and said you had taken an action to end your life yeah they'll call an ambulance but for suicidal thoughts? No.
just don't tell them you have a plan.

 

[Thisisme373]

I spoke to Samaritans once, useless. They just "listen" and go "uhum" "yeah" "okay". I guess if you want to vent they maybe helpful, that's about it. In my experience it was like talking to a brick wall

Was my experience too. Almost made me feel more fucked in a way as he didn't know what to say to my problems or me listing why death is objectively the better option for me. In a way just validated my thoughts that I'm fucked from all angles. Maybe we got half arsed operators or that's the way they are trained I've only called once, I was very suicidal that night

 

[Haruka]

Hi, I've used the chat feature once on Samaritans because I am far too awkward and anxious to talk to somebody I don't know on the phone. The woman that I spoke to was not very helpful unfortunately, she just said things like, 'oh no', 'I see', 'alright'; it was like talking to a brick wall. It didn't help me at all but if you just want to vent a little, it can be of use

 

[Pipsqueak!]

I haven't tried to because I've heard stories of people getting police sent to their house if you call them while being suicidal. I don't want to be forced into some mental hospital so when I'm feeling terrible I usually just sit and deal with it until my next therapy appointment.

 

[Elle]

I tried samaratians, but they just called an ambulance on me ( for what I did ). But that was the last time I ever reached out to a pathetic 'helpline'

 

[sayire]

so whenever i look for this site these mental health emergency numbers pop up and it got me wondering - do these actually do anything? what do the people on the other side say? is it helpful in any way? i don't wanna try it because i hate phone calls but I'm very curious about it.

one word answer : useless

their purpose is to stop someone just at the moment of action. in cases where it is a completely and total impulsive reason someone is acting on, just that delay can help the person not going thru with it. In that context I would say it is a helpful service.

can be complete opposite of helpful for someone who wanted to seek help privately and got cops called on them. I would say in this context it was a complete useless and utter failure.

for most part they repeat and try to agree with you. it is more or less a to delay thing than providing any useful info.

net-net = pretty useless. As if you are already a member here, it means you though about your ctb already to some extent at least

 

[crimsonpool]

ive used the text one before wasnt very helpful ..i could tell they were trying to be done with me so they could get to the next person. i didnt feel any better afterwards, worse if anything

 

[abdelrahman]

i fucking hate those bastards so much i think some of them deserve a special place in hell. some of them are clearly well meaning, but are heavily limited by the retarded rules they have to work under. they cant operate like human beings. just heartless fucking robots that push you further into ctb

 

[FindingHome]

You are better off coming here than calling those hotlines/crisis text lines. They offer no help. It's as if they are reading from a script or you are talking to a bot. I told myself I am officially done talking to these people. They are completely useless.

 

[vitbar]

I have a few times and found them mostly helpful. The best was this bloke who let me explain what was going on. He didn't even argue with me when I said I thought people should have the right to choose. Was talking with him for a couple of hours. At the end I was much less frantic.