spoke to the suicide hotline the other day

[butterfly3]

I called one day and texted the next.
the lady on the phone was nice but it was so unhelpful. honestly she just kept saying yeah after everything I said.
the text was also unhelpful, I ended up leaving the conversation halfway through.
I just don't get it when people say "if you're feeling suicidal call the suicide hotline" as if that's gonna magically take away a persons suicidal thoughts and urges. Cus in reality they don't do much but tell you things people have told you countless times in the past.
like I still hate my life.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

People say that because they have no idea what being suicidal is like, why it happens and what can help (not that I know the answer to the last one either). And they also have no idea what talking to a suicide hotline is like.
The purpose of suicide hotline is to get you to calm down enough to consider not doing anything immediately and going to therapy instead. And I must admit that I haven't found it useful even for that. I guess it is helpful for the majority, and we're the sad minority.

 

[Rounded Agony]

As @Nessie says, I don't think these things are really any good to anyone besides the transiently suicidal, or maybe those who just can't be alone...like you say, it doesn't fix long-term, deep-seated issues. Warm lines can be sort of nice in my experience, but it still is just a time-limited phone call with a good natured stranger who you don't even have the ability to ever interact with again.

Most models of coping, resilience, recovery, or whatever similar thing include social support as a key piece of the framework, but that just doesn't exist whatsoever in the whole suicide prevention/response "movement", or whatever it is. You're just expected to pick yourself up by your bootstraps, do thing things to check the marks on the boxes like a good individual, and get your own life in order. What a load of bollocks. At least you can talk here, though I don't know how much better than a hotline it is

 

[ClownMe]

People say that because they have no idea what being suicidal is like, why it happens and what can help (not that I know the answer to the last one either). And they also have no idea what talking to a suicide hotline is like.

Totally agree.

 

[Musichater]

I'm sorry it happened to you, but can't say I'm surprised. I've always been doubtful about the usefulness of suicide hotline, the more so after I found out that not even my shrink cares of my condition. If a mental health professional who is assigned to handle my case personally doesn't give a damn, I can't really expect the hotline operator to do the opposite, can I?

 

[makethepainstop]

I called one day and texted the next.
the lady on the phone was nice but it was so unhelpful. honestly she just kept saying yeah after everything I said.
the text was also unhelpful, I ended up leaving the conversation halfway through.
I just don't get it when people say "if you're feeling suicidal call the suicide hotline" as if that's gonna magically take away a persons suicidal thoughts and urges. Cus in reality they don't do much but tell you things people have told you countless times in the past.
like I still hate my life.

Then those idiots cry that they can't understand why we should suicide. The truth I am sure is that NO ONE gives a damn about us. We make the normals feel uncomfortable.
They think a five-minute talk will fix everything, but it never does, does it? So then we wind up alone again and feel even worse because they did little or nothing for us. I believe I hate those prolife do-gooders, do not ever offer a starving man food and then take it away. They love to tout hope, but what real hope do they offer? I'll tell you they offer you bs and not anything else. Sorry rant over. Love to all here.

 

[Hollowillow]

I called one day and texted the next.
the lady on the phone was nice but it was so unhelpful. honestly she just kept saying yeah after everything I said.
the text was also unhelpful, I ended up leaving the conversation halfway through.
I just don't get it when people say "if you're feeling suicidal call the suicide hotline" as if that's gonna magically take away a persons suicidal thoughts and urges. Cus in reality they don't do much but tell you things people have told you countless times in the past.
like I still hate my life.

At least they didn't call the police and didn't refuse to listen to you... Hotlines do it to me all the time...

But yeah they totally suck

 

[FuneralCry]

Suicide hotlines do sound very useless to me and like a waste of time. I personally believe that words could never change anything or make life more bearable. To me words are empty and meaningless. And it's annoying when people push suicide hotlines as a solution for absolutely everyone who is suicidal, regardless of what they are going through and their life circumstances. I just think that some people don't want to face the fact that for many people life is simply not worth living and it could never be. For some people suicide is simply the more preferable option and this fact should be respected.

 

[Forever Sleep]

It's a shame that they can't refer you to longer term support. Do they ever do that? A colleague at work once rang one and said all they were interested in was whether you had a plan that you were able to implement straight away.

I find it sad when people have said they sounded disinterested or lacked empathy. Still, I guess their primary goal is prevention- so, maybe they are a bit limited as to what they can say.

I'm sorry they were of no help. It's sad when people actually do take the courage to reach out that their appeals for help are so poorly met.

 

[Hercules]

It's a shame that they can't refer you to longer term support. Do they ever do that?

The hotline can make referrals for you and connect you to local resources if you explain your situation and tell them the kind of help you need. If you have a local crisis center where you live, it's better to call them. They would know better than the national crisis line what resources are available in your area. In the US, you can also call 211 which connects you to health and human services. They can refer you to a social services and other agencies that may be able to help you depending on what your situation is.