I’ve called into the 988 hotline in my area several times and despite having 24/7/365 support it’s something where people don’t support you. Have you had similar experiences? If so what is a decent hotline. I was literally asked if I was suicidal and if I wanted to die tonight.
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it varies, I’ve called my local one a few dozen times. I honestly think their approach is to keep you talking long enough for you to get tired, so tired that death is too much work. If that is what they are doing, they’re good at it most of the time.
The worst I got was one night when I called and they told me they were so busy that unless I was in imminent danger, they had other calls. That was nearly the end of me.
but here I am, not dead yet
I’ve called the one listed on this website twice. The first time I basically cried for twenty minutes and felt good enough afterwards to thank the guy and hang up and get on with my day. He was very concerned because I had a loaded gun, and asked me to put it in another room, and he kept asking me if the gun was still there during the call. The second time, the woman who answered seemed preoccupied and bored, so after about ten minutes, I just hung up. There was no call back to check on me, don’t know if they do that, and it wasn’t a productive experience. I still felt miserable afterwards.
crisis chats, hotlines, check ups and basically anything isn’t worth anyones time anymore. especially not the operators since they treat you like shit nowadays. not even therapists want to listen to me whine, why would someone else want to? i’ve found it better to vent my woes onto this site more helpful than talking to anyone, that’s why my posts are so moody and all over the place!
i’m not sure why it’s like this.. why can’t people do their job and be compassionate?
Well as others have stated in the comments….it’s a hit or miss with these hotlines. I’ve only ever called twice. The first time I called I actually felt kinda embarrassed because the lady on the other end didn’t say much except for “yeah”, “uh-huh”, “ok”, “yep”, etc until I stayed silent for a good 3 minutes and then she asked “…are you gonna be okay if I hang up?”. I hung up and I felt worse. The 2nd time was better but nothing was really solved either.
Believe it or not my regular doctor was more helpful than the suicide hotline. I originally went in for my basic yearly checkup but after filling out some paperwork they started questioning me about my mental health and I told them the truth. Eventually I was talking to my doctor about my suicidal thoughts and she referred me to a couple of counselors and psychiatrists. The doctor was pretty cool. Unlike the hotline I called in the past, the conversation with the doctor felt genuine. And even though it was brief I left the appointment feeling less nihilistic.