What’s your experience with a suicide hotline?

[sadlyexisting]

Thinking about talking to a suicide hotline and see if they can at least be a bit helpful. If you've ever called a suicide hotline, how were your experiences?

 

[Abyssal]

Got left on hold for 20 minutes before hanging up the first time. Recommended if you want to elevate your break downs to a new level.

Had more success since, really only good at listening to you. Go in with "I feel like dying" and nothing more and you might as well be telling it to your wall.

 

[february in alaska]

The one and only time I called a suicide hotline was right after I found out my friend CTB'd. I was half in the middle of a panic attack.

It was really awkward. Maybe just my social anxiety speaking, but I spent about ten minutes trying to breathe while he said god knows what, and by the time I was semi coherent his first two questions where "what's your name?" and "what school do you go to?"

As soon as he asked I knew all I wanted to do was get out without raising suspicion/dealing with any follow ups. So I told him and then spent about 5 minutes pretending like I was magically "doing better" and making up some bullshit about how it felt good to "let it out". All lies, but the guy seemed to want to go just as much as I did. That was pretty much it.

It's not that the guy was rude, but he wasn't nice either. I don't know what I expected, I'm not comfortable around any strangers at all and I don't know what the man could've said to make anything better.

People always say to call the hotline like they'll magically fix everything. But really, I think the whole point of the hotline is to send out people to do wellness checks or stop you from CTBing. It's like being institutionalized. As soon as you realize it isn't working, it becomes a strategy game where you have to pretend to be recovering in order to get out.

 

[delphi4470]

People always say to call the hotline like they'll magically fix everything. But really, I think the whole point of the hotline is to send out people to do wellness checks or stop you from CTBing. It's like being institutionalized. As soon as you realize it isn't working, it becomes a strategy game where you have to pretend to be recovering in order to get out.

Other people did this too? I thought I was the only one lol.
I've never called a suicide hotline before but maybe try the Samaritans, I've heard better things about them than any of the other hotlines, AFAIK they also can't call the police on you.

 

[february in alaska]

Other people did this too? I thought I was the only one lol.
I've never called a suicide hotline before but maybe try the Samaritans, I've heard better things about them than any of the other hotlines, AFAIK they also can't call the police on you.

If I ever give it another shot I'll definitely hit them up instead. Appreciate the tip, I wish all hotlines maintained anonymity and had a guarantee not to call someone on you

 

[lifewasawillowtv]

If I ever give it another shot I'll definitely hit them up instead. Appreciate the tip, I wish all hotlines maintained anonymity and had a guarantee not to call someone on you

Samaritans are just as bad as the rest, I mean they'll keep it confidential and not send people your house to do welfare checks etc which is okay I guess. They left me on hold for ages when I called them, to the point when they picked up I said "you do realise I could have killed myself about 30 minutes ago by now right?" Talking to them also didn't help, it ironically made me feel worse because they were so superficial. Never called a suicide hotline after that. This was just my personal experience though, so take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[february in alaska]

Samaritans are just as bad as the rest, I mean they'll keep it confidential and not send people your house to do welfare checks etc which is okay I guess. They left me on hold for ages when I called them, to the point when they picked up I said "you do realise I could have killed myself about 30 minutes ago by now right?" Talking to them also didn't help, it ironically made me feel worse because they were so superficial. Never called a suicide hotline after that. This was just my personal experience though, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I totally get that. It's why I don't really have plans to call a hotline, even on the off chance that I decided to go in recovery or thought I would need help.

When I need to vent, I come here because there are actual people who understand what I'm going through and where my head is at. So it's great if they provide a listening ear for someone who finds that helpful, but it's not like they're worth more than that. It's not therapy, they can't prescribe you anything, it's not someone you know who could actually be your support group.

And yeah, my god, the hold times. I forgot to mention that in my experience. I think it was like a fifteen minute wait. Crazy shit lol

 

[vitbar]

So far the people have been decent and speaking about my problems calmed me down some. One guy didn't even argue when I said suicide should be an option.

 

[FailerQt.]

Neither of those options actually. All they wanted to know was my location so they could call the cops.

 

[jbear824]

In my experience, they suck. The biggest problem with them is that they are run by ordinary people with no psychological or psychiatric training. So they have no idea what they are talking about about, and instead just offer empty shit like "it gets better".

 

[notherenotnow]

My firend called them so many times in her life, yet they have never answered to any of those calls. I also tried doing it once but nobody answered. i mean, im glad that there's some people wasting their time on talking to suicadal people, but come on... what's the point of telling people to call the suicide hotline, if nobody there even answers?

 

[BornByGhosts]

ive heard too many horror stories to ever bother calling one

 

[Deleted member 65988]

Here to just say more or less the same things that have already been said. The people who work at these hotlines wouldn't be there if there wasn't something in it for them like a paycheck. They don't really care because it's just a job they have to do and be careful, they'll tell the cops on you as if the cops will do any better but hound you with questions to gage if you are enough of a threat to yourself.

 

[xxHello^^xx]

Mine was actually quite nice, I was merely 16 at the time, I'm 19 now. I decided to call the lgbt hotline, I felt as though they would be more supportive. I was having a panic attack at the time so it took me a few minutes before I could speak. The guy who picked up patiently waited for me and he was so sweet. He directed me through a short breathing exercise until I felt better and provided me with some resources. He let me talk until I was ready to end the call. I was so grateful to of been one of the lucky ones who had dialed this number. Despite that I still attempted suicide the next day, ended up in the hospital with a concussion. (´∀｀)

 

[Orange Cat]

I had a good experience once when I texted them. The man I talked to was very nice. After I hung up, he later called me back on his cellphone and talked to me for over an hour. He told me that after our conversation before, he was worried about me and didn't want me to do anything to hurt myself.
He did seem genuinely concerned.

 

[Aim]

They did their best, hounestsly, asked questions tried to give some other perspectives, comfort etc etc. But sadly I'm to far out to listen to anyone at this point! But in my opinion it wasn't bad.

 

[Gonnerr]

I never called. And i won't.

 

[Blurry_Buildings]

As soon as he asked I knew all I wanted to do was get out without raising suspicion/dealing with any follow ups. So I told him and then spent about 5 minutes pretending like I was magically "doing better" and making up some bullshit about how it felt good to "let it out". All lies, but the guy seemed to want to go just as much as I did. That was pretty much it.

It's not that the guy was rude, but he wasn't nice either. I don't know what I expected, I'm not comfortable around any strangers at all and I don't know what the man could've said to make anything better.

People always say to call the hotline like they'll magically fix everything. But really, I think the whole point of the hotline is to send out people to do wellness checks or stop you from CTBing. It's like being institutionalized. As soon as you realize it isn't working, it becomes a strategy game where you have to pretend to be recovering in order to get out.

lol me too

When I called I thought they were nice enough, but it seems like their strategy was to attempt to connect me to long term resources that just didn't exist or weren't feasible in my area. I told them this and they didn't have much of an answer, but I knew that if (after they tell you that you have to make it work) you keep telling them that a therapist an hour a week won't fix anything their solution is to put you in a mental health hold. Once I realized this it just became a game of pretending to have actually been fine the whole time and waiting for a break in the conversation to say something like "Thanks for your help; sorry I think I just needed someone to talk to" and ask to end the call.

 

[FailerQt.]

Very bad experience. All they wanted to know was my location so they could send cops, but not rude actually.

 

[enslavedinbody]

i asked them why suicide was portrayed as bad in most media and they proceeded to read out my city name i hung up after

 

[asian.neet]

Thinking about talking to a suicide hotline and see if they can at least be a bit helpful. If you've ever called a suicide hotline, how were your experiences?

They threw me into the psych ward and the next day police show up and trespass me from my school.

Absolutely DO NOT TRUST THE HOTLINE. They will do their best to "keep you alive" by throwing you into the psych ward where you'll be kept away from society and its literally prison.

 

[new2blue]

I called once as a teenager. They hung up on me mid sentence. Never called them again.