Talk:Crisis hotline
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[edit] Adding lists of services
Intrigue, in his change summary, asked whether it was a good idea to add links to these services here, and which ones should be listed. This is an important question - indeed, the entire content of this article is something that should be considered with great care. We have a responsibility to our own principles and guidelines, but we also have a moral responsibility, in my view, to provide helpful content to those going through a crisis. A listing of an inappropriate service could, in this case, could do a great deal of harm. Because of this, I am very hesitant about adding random services willy-nilly in the same manner that you might on another type of article. Another problem is the enormous fragmentation of such services across the United States. There is no way we could accurately list them all here; the closest thing to a national service I've been able to find in the US is the relatively new 1-800-SUICIDE service (which automatically refers callers to accredited centres), but I'm not sure of the reputation of this.
My initial thought was that the easiest way to provide a comprehensive list of reputable organizations was to pass the job onto others - that is, look for international directories and associations, which turned up the website of Befrienders International. However, this organization folded in January 2003 (I don't know why); the website is currently being maintained by the UK Samaritans (a 50-year-old, UK and ROI-wide service of good reputation), it does have a quite good international directory of services. Another international organization of note is Lifeline International; Lifeline is by far the biggest such service in Australia, and I presume that they have a good reputation in the countries in which they operate. Then there's IFOTES, an international assocation of crisis centres operating mostly in continental Europe. If we list these three, that's a good start, I think, but there still remains the issue about listings in the US. Can any Americans comment here? --Robert Merkel 22:04, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I agree - we should try to keep the list short, one or two services per country (perhaps with another page listing general 'helplines'), and we should check that they are mainstream, legitimate services. How to deal with the US is a puzzle for me. Thanks, Intrigue 23:02, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)
What about http://suicidehotlines.com/ for the US? Intrigue 23:04, 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- Looks good at first glance, though I'd like some clarification from the website's operator as to whether she has any specific criteria for listing services on it. By the by, she could also do with some help from a web designer... --Robert Merkel 02:22, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Unsourced Criticism
"One criticism of suicide hotlines is that those who are determined to kill themselves are unlikely to call one. Also, those with social anxiety may not have the emotional resources to do so. There is no evidence that the presence of suicide hotlines reduces the incidence of suicide."
It is extremally bold to suggest that suicide hotlines don't reduce the incidence of suicide, given their mainstream acceptance by the psychological community. The person who wrote this has provided no support for their claim, and the burden for proof rests with them. Thus, I am removing the paragraph.
[edit] My Own Subjective Experience as a Crisis Line Volunteer
It is interesting to read this article, and the critism of crisis line volunteers, because I am once myself. Being a crisis line volunteer is not easy. People expect too much from us. They expect us to solve all thier problems and to cheer them up at a moment's notice. Many people forget that we are humans on the other end of the line. We get tired, we get annoyed, we have good days and bad days. We do our best, but sometimes that is not enough.
Even to become a crisis line volunteer is very difficult. I had to go through 3 months of training, and pay for the training (it cost $75). Imagine that, having to pay to do volunteer work !!!
Working on a crisis line shatters many of the myths about crisis lines and those who call them. For one, it is false that the majority of callers are female. There really is no significant sex difference in who calls and who doesn't. Also, it is false that mostly young people call. Some people believe that young people often phone crisis lines, because younger people tend to have more problems because they are less connected to society and society's norms. But the truth is that callers from those under 35 are extremely rare, and younger people tend to go to internet chat rooms for emotional support.
So before you go around ranting about crisis lines and crisis line volunteers, why don't you take a moment to think of all us courageous volunteers have to go through, and how we give so much of ourselves to strangers for free...
[edit] Nightline Discussion
How about Nightline? (see http://www.nightline.niss.ac.uk/) Its's a service that runs in many Uk universities. 163.1.68.248 23:36, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
