experiences with 988 chat

[winamp]

I was going to chat with someone from that 988 site/chat today (in a sort of emergency situation or will be in the next few weeks or months and want to have resources before anything happens to set me back or makes me feel extreme suicidal again and the local resources all require a phone call and I can't do it because I am afraid that I will be eavesdropped on or that police will come to my house) and then I saw an article from 2022 that talked about how people recommend not to contact them and that it isn't at all what it seems like or as helpful (police involvement, involuntary inpatient/sectioning, etc.)

I would really like to contact or chat with someone but after briefly reading some of the article I am afraid to and would like to hear anyone else's experiences with this number (call or chat or text experience) so then I can make a decision to contact them or not

 

[Unicr0n]

I would really like to contact or chat with someone but after briefly reading some of the article I am afraid to and would like to hear anyone else's experiences with this number (call or chat or text experience) so then I can make a decision to contact them or not

Try a warmline instead. They're made for people who are mentally distressed including suicidal ideation. 988 is for people who are right about to kill themselves then and there and need someone to help talk them down to a more stable state. Sometimes people do need that involuntary commitment, especially if being suicidal is not a normal for them [isn't for most people, unlike those on this forum] and they're scared for feeling this way but are ready to commit impulsively or are mentally incompetent due to mental illness. If you're ready to commit then and there, be prepared to give a false address so if cops are called, they don't get to you if that's truly what you don't want.

edit: Just read your article. Not sure what you're talking about with people saying it's "not what it seems".

Warm lines need to be promoted more, good on the article for doing that.

 

[winamp]

Try a warmline instead.

I just found a website that has many of these/a directory of warmlines and they are exactly what I need/what I am looking for thank you for sharing this
I have never heard of them before now

edit: Just read your article. Not sure what you're talking about with people saying it's "not what it seems"

sorry ! I just skimmed the article and read bits an pieces of it and just summarized the bit that I could remember as it "not being what it seems" (stuff about rude staff and putting LGBTQ people in danger etc.) according to social media posts about it mentioned in the article I think

I will fully read it when I have the time so then I can see the full picture

 

[errorsinmypast]

What a good idea, I've never heard of warmlines in the UK, are you guys abroad?

 

[winamp]

What a good idea, I've never heard of warmlines in the UK, are you guys abroad?

I'm in the US I looked at this directory I found and searched around for any in the UK but I didn't see any unfortunately

 

[moshimoshi]

Hi! I've used the 988 chat a couple of times! They were semi comforting and did help out slightly, to the point where I wasn't acutely suicidal (still very suicidal but just enough to hold me back from not going through with it) their words felt a bit impersonal and empty but that's probably to be expected. I can't wait until the day (if it happens) when we have way better Suicide hotline resources. Although the person I got wasn't too bad. I really doubt you'll get sectioned, I think it's worth a shot trying out. Although I never specified that I had the means to kill myself right then and there and I never said that I was about ctb or anything so I'm not sure what they would do in that situation. But I did tell them I was feeling suicidal and like hurting myself. Sorry my memory is a bit fuzzy since it was a year ago, but I think I had to wait maybe like 15 minutes for someone to respond to the chat, then after that I only had to wait a couple/few minutes between chat responses (although that felt like an eternity lol) I think you'll be alright as long as you don't say something like "I'm about to hang myself" or something like that. Good luck and I hope this helped a bit!!! :) I hope you find something that works for you (I'm in US btw)

 

[errorsinmypast]

I'm in the US I looked at this directory I found and searched around for any in the UK but I didn't see any unfortunately

Ah thanks for checking what a kind thing to do

 

[winamp]

Ah thanks for checking what a kind thing to do

the closest I got was this but I am unsure if the sources provided are both warm lines and crisis lines or just crisis lines added along with the other hotlines for other need and ?crises/cisises? (Sorry for bad spelling)

I also checked for any old ones that are still running today via the way back machine but I only found a few from New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Germany

 

[errorsinmypast]

the closest I got was this but I am unsure if the sources provided are both warm lines and crisis lines or just crisis lines added along with the other hotlines for other need and ?crises/cisises? (Sorry for bad spelling)

I also checked for any old ones that are still running today via the way back machine but I only found a few from New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Germany

Thank you so much

 

[Zazacosta]

I have tried similar hotlines few times (in my country). Not very helpful, not totally bad...
I have never heard that somebody calling to an emergency hotline got reported to police or involuntary got to hospital... But it can be different in your countries...

 

[Orange Cat]

These hotlines don't call the police on you without your consent.

Samaritans https://samaritansnyc.org/

THRIVE Lifeline https://thrivelifeline.org/

Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/

 

[nerve]

i use the online chat once in a while. sometimes you get someone willing to just talk with you and other times you get someone more focused on "helping" and it can feel like they're pushing you along a conveyer belt of responses and topics and suggestions. it's good to have kind of a detached attitude towards it as much as you can. "all im looking for is someone to talk to and some way to stay busy during this really awful moment and if they say anything that upsets me, that's fine, they're just one person, i can try someone/something else if i want to." they can be pretty slow to respond (like 2-5 minutes between replies) so if you can focus on it, it helps to have something else to do (e.g.: a craft, a game, something to watch, even something to eat) while youre waiting.

sorry if im telling you things you already know, but 988 has a pretty straightforward risk assessment process and they ask stuff like "do you have any thoughts of suicide?" "do you have any plan to hurt/kill yourself?" "have you done anything to hurt/kill yourself today?" and "can you stay safe while we're talking?" the right answers to those are: yes, no, no, and yes. wishing you were dead and wanting to die is okay. you start endangering yourself when you talk about making/having plans to kill yourself. its riskier to call the phone number since its pretty easy for them to track your location that way and when youre having a real-time conversation and can't read over what you say before you actually say it, you can let things slip without even noticing.

i say give it a shot. the closest ive ever gotten to having the police show up at my house over the online chat is the person asking if i thought it might be helpful to go to the hospital. when i said no, they didnt press any further and that was my cue to say "I'll let you go now, thank you for talking with me tonight."

 

[lachrymost]

These hotlines don't call the police on you without your consent.

Samaritans https://samaritansnyc.org/

THRIVE Lifeline https://thrivelifeline.org/

Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/

Thanks for this. Does anyone know if there's a resource like this (suicide hotline-style service that won't call the cops) that has an online chat? I doubt it. I have phone anxiety and don't want to be charged for texting internationally. I wouldn't mind annoying people with how hopeless my case is.

I started following Rob Wipond, who has done a lot of investigative journalism into suicide hotlines that call the cops (so most of them). They seem super fucking sketchy to me. Especially considering that they are low reward in the best case scenario and high cost in the worst case scenario. There's no way I can trust that the person on the phone won't have itchy 911 fingers as they listen to me insist that I can't kill myself and that's exactly the problem.

 

[winamp]

Does anyone know if there's a resource like this (suicide hotline-style service that won't call the cops) that has an online chat? I doubt it. I have phone anxiety and don't want to be charged for texting internationally. I wouldn't mind annoying people with how hopeless my case is.

same

I found this one it will be online at 6:00pm - 12:00am PDT (CA, USA)

_____________________________________________
thank you to all who responded to this thread
I found the responses very informative and helpful

makes me think that maybe the recovery section should or could maybe have a warmline hotline and chat thread/directory?

 

[Orange Cat]

I found these. The first one is a list of warmlines for each state in the US. The others are a list of international crisis and warmlines.

We're all EARS | WARMLINE.ORG

We're all EARS is on WARMLINE.ORG. Become a member on WARMLINE.ORG to joinWe're all EARS's group

warmline.org

Find A Helpline | Free emotional support in 130+ countries

Global vetted directory of helplines, hotlines and crisis lines. Chat, text or phone support with suicide, anxiety, depression, domestic violence, gender& sexual identity and more.

findahelpline.com

International resources: crisis and warmlines

We want you to feel supported all the time, no matter where you are. If you’re outside the US and looking for resources or a place to talk, find somewhere to turn on this list. Jump to your country’s resources: Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Czech Republic Denmark France Greece Germany...

www.supportiv.com

Suicide Chats Online - Suicide Stop | International Help Center

Various suicide prevention chats around the world

www.suicidestop.com

 

[fleetingnight]

I generally have bad experiences with hotlines, especially texting them, but I texted 988 last night and had a decent conversation. Not the most helpful one ever, but kind of nice. He let me vent and didn't try to make assumptions like "I'm sure you're not as bad as you think" or "it'll get better," he just said he understood why my situation would make me feel that way.

Just know where to draw the line with your honesty. I even told him about the methods I was thinking about, just said that I didn't have the supplies (true, tbf) and wasn't actually gonna do it soon (probably true)

 

[nightlygem]

I strongly recommend other helplines. 988 took about 18 minutes to respond to my text. I definitely could've died by then if it weren't for my partner reaching out to me. Calling may be better? But I wouldn't want to run the risk. Stay safe out there.