Never contact 988.

[wait.what]

As a tip for the future, always start off your conversation with any suicide hotline (text or call) with "I have no plans and no methods to kms with". That way they would be far less likely to contact authorities.

Suicide hotline operators used to get snippy & terminate calls if you did that, because (so they said) you were taking time away from people who actually needed their help. I see that 988 has rebranded itself as a "Suicide and Crisis Hotline" that you can call if you're very upset but not suicidal. Has anyone tested this out? Are they useful as a crisis line, or are they just marking a "not critical" checkbox and shooing callers on their way?

how are they legally able to say it's anonymous when they can track you and send LE to your doorstep? always wondered this. false advertising. I imagine if they were more upfront about their policies they wouldn't get as many calls though...

Do they actually claim it's anonymous? The few times I've called such lines they've wanted my name first thing, and then the address of where I'm at and my phone number shortly afterwards. They might be able to claim they're "confidential," meaning they won't give out your info to your boss or your mom if they call about you, but that's not the same.

Have you tried support communities like 7cups? If you only want to have someone to talk to without mentioning ctb, there are listeners who won't report you to local officers.

I don't know 7cups, but the only crisis line I know of where they absolutely swear not to send the cops after you is Trans Lifeline. They only operate certain hours of the day, though. I've called them twice. Once they weren't taking calls then, and once I talked with a staffer who wasn't actually helpful, but did seem like they were trying. The poor soul sounded like they were in over their head, honestly. Could just have been me.

Usually when I bring up this topic I add a PSA to never send armed police officers to look into the "welfare" of suicidal people or anyone who might respond unpredictably to shouted, and possibly contradictory, orders. That can include people who are mentally ill, under the influence, neurodivergent, deaf or hard of hearing, don't speak English, etc. Quite honestly I wouldn't send cops off to "help" POC either, if there was any way to avoid it. They might get "helped" all right. Helped straight into a hole in the ground.

The Washington Post keeps stats on such things in their "Fatal Force" database, if you're interested in seeing more information about police shootings. You need to register to see it now, but it does still seem to be free of charge. (Not gonna link, because I don't really want to remind the media we're here.)

Of course, the average user here may consider a cop's bullet the cherry on top of their sundae, so do with all that info what you will.

 

[LastFlowers]

Do they actually claim it's anonymous? The few times I've called such lines they've wanted my name first thing, and then the address of where I'm at and my phone number shortly afterwards. They might be able to claim they're "confidential," meaning they won't give out your info to your boss or your mom if they call about you, but that's not the same.

Funny you mention this..I'm trying to remember if they asked me that last night (refer to my comment before yours)…I didn't think they asked me any of that at all..but now I am recalling the question "Where are you?"…
I didn't answer it specifically, or maybe I didn't answer it at all.
I sure as fuck did not give them my name or address. Nor my phone number, which I assume they may have ways of obtaining anyhow.
I'm not even sure they could figure out my gender for the majority of the phone call, considering the state of my voice and sobbing.

That said, was still a bad idea (as I very well knew) and I don't even know if it was the "988" number but it certainly sounded like it.
I don't feel like looking at my call log to be sure and worrying about them coming for me.
I won't be opening the door if they do.
I doubt they will but still.

It's not like I called because I wanted them to prevent my suicide..I just had a horrible time trying to talk to the only other person in my vicinity and that went so poorly that I felt the need to attempt one of these numbers just so I wasn't talking to myself or my 4 walls.
(There's nobody else to contact. No support system.)
Once they answered, the whole thing became a predictable chore.

Suicide hotline operators used to get snippy & terminate calls if you did that, because (so they said) you were taking time away from people who actually needed their help. I see that 988 has rebranded itself as a "Suicide and Crisis Hotline" that you can call if you're very upset but not suicidal. Has anyone tested this out? Are they useful as a crisis line, or are they just marking a "not critical" checkbox and shooing callers on their way?

Because of this comment (which I skipped over at first), I decided to check my phone log just now, despite my trepidation..sure enough, 988.
The reason I don't think I knew it was that is because I simply pressed the phone icon on the Google page or some online page that had the description you're referring to.

So I guess I "tested it out" last night…my conclusion, which you can discern from my wall of text in a previous comment right before your own, is that they're still primarily concerning themselves with suicide prevention and not the overall crisis or any crisis.

I never trust suicide prevention is good for me, they're only good for parasuicide.

Good for…yup.
Terrible for someone who has made up their mind and just wants comfort and understanding in talking about why.
FFS. Even those who have lived charmed lives don't usually want to perish without tying up loose ends, saying goodbye or giving the final thoughts and grievances that are on their mind.
Yet we are denied that..

 

[Wannagonow]

I've always known that I would never contact any suicide hotline. I know I wouldn't be truthful for fear of cops at my front door. So why bother calling? I think it's really important to say that some people may need or want that kind of support. If so, then they probably should use the resource. I had a trusted therapist send the cops to my house (without any notice to me). It was a very unpleasant experience. The whole neighborhood watched me get carted away. Nope. Not calling a hotline.

 

[LastFlowers]

I've always known that I would never contact any suicide hotline. I know I wouldn't be truthful for fear of cops at my front door. So why bother calling? I think it's really important to say that some people may need or want that kind of support. If so, then they probably should use the resource. I had a trusted therapist send the cops to my house (without any notice to me). It was a very unpleasant experience. The whole neighborhood watched me get carted away. Nope. Not calling a hotline.

That's what I always thought. Until last night.
I ended up being so truthful about my reasons for suffering, it wasn't even funny..but that tends to happen with me, to my own detriment.
I spent so many years bottling up, and am still forced to most of the time, honesty just pours out of me if it ever gets the fighting chance.
Probably part of why I never shut up once I get going on the forum.
I have been so insanely quiet and without speech or making my suffering known the majority of the time IRL, it starts to poison me inside if I don't bleed it out.

I mean I basically ended up lecturing the person on why their hotline doesn't work for so many people.
And why suicide IS the answer for some.
A part of me wishes they would actually take the things I said to heart and incorporate them into their system.
But I know that won't happen..
I didn't really mean to contact a suicide line, I was looking more for a talk line, but it was an impulsive search and phone click.
I'm kind of glad I got a true taste of it though..just so I know first hand, that it really is utterly useless and insulting for a lot of individuals.
Although it was quite frankly, exactly what I would expect from such a line.
That helped me handle what would normally throw me into a fury, a little better.
I'm pretty sure I'm safe from anybody knocking on my door..I was shrewd about how I answered their main questions and how I ended the phone call.
I started to steer the conversation to the bigger picture, not just about myself…probably way over their training perimeters.
Well..another human had to bear auditory witness to my suffering and listen to my objections instead of just my bedroom walls, maybe that's something..though they didn't seem to catch on to most of what I was getting at..maybe some minuscule level of osmosis was accomplished. Who knows.
(They might be hoping the same thing toward me, but from their incorrect perspective.)
Such bullshit.

 

[nopointinlife]

Only call 988 if you want to get a visit by LE and sent into a 72 hour involuntary hold that will turn into 30 days and a huge medical bill for you to pay.

 

[Wannagonow]

Only call 988 if you want to get a visit by LE and sent into a 72 hour involuntary hold that will turn into 30 days and a huge medical bill for you to pay.

Yes!! You nailed it. (Again...unless someone feels they need to have LE come help make them safe).

 

[symphony]

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm sorry you had that experience. The suicide hotline is a joke at best and actively harmful at worst. I wouldn't recommend them to just about anyone.

 

[Barteljaap]

And that's all they kept bugging me about.
Was I going to do it within their arbitrary time frame (no idea what that is) or not.
They did NOT want to hear my story or really why I was so upset.
They just wanted to know if I was going to do it anytime soon or not, so they could boot me off the line.

Wow, exactly my experience. Sometimes I think this shitty treatment might have had something to do with me, so in a way it helps take it less personally knowing they treat everyone this way. They really don't give a fuck about our problems.

Contradictory, platitudes, lines I've heard a million times..not just about suicide, but my situation in particular..they didn't even try to be original.
A complete joke.

At least you called them out on it! I always tried to be nice, even when they were being really annoying. Kind of regret being nice tbh.

I told them I'm not dealing with people who pathologize the human condition to the point that no matter what happens to you, no matter your circumstances, you will always be given a label, rather than a listening ear addressing the true cause of your misery (which very well may be permanent, and is in my case..also progressive).

Yup, I'm not sure if there is really such a thing as "depression". It's just a natural human reaction to certain types of difficult life circumstances.

They were so pleased, repeated it over and over again in the most condescending manner, about how glad they were to hear that, even though I know they were not grasping the nuances and torment behind what I was saying.

I can imagine They enjoy being as condescending as humanly possible.

Suicide hotlines exist for one reason: to give reassurance to people who are not suicidal that there are systems to "help" those who are.
So that regular people don't have to feel bad when they hear about suicides, sort of "we're doing all we can".

Similar to all the money being spent on programmes for the homeless while the number of homeless only keeps rising. Regular people can hear about these programmes and feel that "there is something being done, I don't have to feel bad when I see homeless people".