Do Suicide Hotlines actually do anything?

  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
Space_Dandy

Space_Dandy

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
I heard one employee complain that they were on a 15 minute average handle time metric. It sounds like they treat this just like any other customer service where the goal is to get people off of the phone as quickly as possible.

But aside from that, suicidal ideation is a real bitch to deal with. If someone feels hopeless and depressed, I don't see that there's a lot that a stranger who doesn't know anything about them could say to change the way they think. Such comforting notions as 'people love you, people will miss you' will likely fall flat to the person who feels lonely and forgotten, and rejected by everyone they care about. People don't become suicidal after one bad day, it's after years of rejection and failure.
 
Solution
A Very Big Fish
Mostly its just to listen to people and talk with them while they're at a real emotionally charged place. Talk with them long enough usually gives them a chance to calm down a bit and trudge on through another day of this waking nightmare.

No one gets cured on a suicide hotline, its more just a stop gap for people who are in the moment in a real shitty place.

I worked on one for a few years, and it was mostly just listening and being a sounding board for them. Some people would call weekly, but that was pretty uncommon.

We also had a time limit of about an hour, because otherwise our phones would get way too backed up and it would turn into a mess.
Sort by date Sort by votes
When I worked at one I had a 100% suicide conversion rate. Turns out we weren't actually trying to sell people on suicide, but I'll still count it as a win.
 
Upvote 6 Downvote
Always best to prank call them just to give some normie cuck more time to think about eating a bullet :cunningpepe:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mostly its just to listen to people and talk with them while they're at a real emotionally charged place. Talk with them long enough usually gives them a chance to calm down a bit and trudge on through another day of this waking nightmare.

No one gets cured on a suicide hotline, its more just a stop gap for people who are in the moment in a real shitty place.

I worked on one for a few years, and it was mostly just listening and being a sounding board for them. Some people would call weekly, but that was pretty uncommon.

We also had a time limit of about an hour, because otherwise our phones would get way too backed up and it would turn into a mess.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
I wonder how much you get paid to be on a suicide hotline and if it's worth the pay.

I also wonder about other things like how many quit the job because of the emotional stress or if most just don't give a shit and are just listeners with a handy set of instructions written on the wall to know what to say.

I guess this is just me but imo nobody can really help you with your woes so it's a waste of time. They can probably only tell you things you already know.

I guess if just talking about it truly helps then they're there for people who really have nobody else to talk to which honestly is probably the saddest thing about it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Mojoi said:
I wonder how much you get paid to be on a suicide hotline and if it's worth the pay.

I also wonder about other things like how many quit the job because of the emotional stress or if most just don't give a shit and are just listeners with a handy set of instructions written on the wall to know what to say.

I guess this is just me but imo nobody can really help you with your woes so it's a waste of time. They can probably only tell you things you already know.

I guess if just talking about it truly helps then they're there for people who really have nobody else to talk to which honestly is probably the saddest thing about it.
Click to expand...
To answer your questions, most people are volunteers, there are some paid. I did it to volunteer when I was in college, and that was a large chunk of the volunteers.

People do it for a while and then quit, its a job that can burn you out fast, and they literally have a portion of training dedicated to trying to help you not burn out. You get a lot of training before hand, you roleplay calls, and there's a supervisor on every shift who can take over if you're really struggling.

You can't help and you aren't supposed to really offer advice (no one wants the liability) so its mostly letting people talk and prompting them so they can answer their own questions.

That's basically what it is, and yes it is that sad. Sometimes you have someone who has an epiphany on the line or at least leaves in a much better place, and that's a rewarding feeling.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A Very Big Fish said:
To answer your questions, most people are volunteers, there are some paid. I did it to volunteer when I was in college, and that was a large chunk of the volunteers.

People do it for a while and then quit, its a job that can burn you out fast, and they literally have a portion of training dedicated to trying to help you not burn out. You get a lot of training before hand, you roleplay calls, and there's a supervisor on every shift who can take over if you're really struggling.

You can't help and you aren't supposed to really offer advice (no one wants the liability) so its mostly letting people talk and prompting them so they can answer their own questions.

That's basically what it is, and yes it is that sad. Sometimes you have someone who has an epiphany on the line or at least leaves in a much better place, and that's a rewarding feeling.
Click to expand...
Do you ever call the authorities over it? I believe I once heard that if someone sounds super suicidal the police gets called and they're put under suicide watch or something? This in turn makes calling the hotline less desirable.

I'm not stating this as a fact it's more like something I heard once.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom