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A list of suicide hotlines are available here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines Here are

by jf 8y ago

A list of suicide hotlines are available here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines https://www.reddit.com/r/SuicideWatch/wiki/hotlines Here are the numbers for the United States: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) Veterans press 1 to reach specialised support. Online Chat: http://chat.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/LifelineCh.. http://chat.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/LifelineCh.... Crisis Text Line: Text "START" to 741-741 Youth-Specific services (voice/text/chat/email) from the Boys' Town National Hotline: http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/ways-to-get-help.aspx http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/ways-to-get-help.aspx Spanish: 1-800-SUICIDA

AndrewKemendo 8y ago
Despite almost everyone who has made an attempt on their life saying it's counterproductive and patronizing, this is consistently the first response on any thread or discussion about suicide. I think this is symptomatic of the broader total failure to understand what could lead someone to suicide, and the tendency to assume what someone in crisis knows or just ditching them off. Maybe just accept that suicide is a human right and engage individuals in crisis as individuals with unique problems.
- staticautomatic 8y ago
  I've been to the edge and back. It never occurred to me to call a hotline and it never would, but I have no doubt that other people might benefit from it. If the prospect of saving a life isn't enough to get past some abstract hand-wringing then I don't know what is. The point of the hotline isn't to fix you or permanently stave off a desire to kill yourself. The point is to buy enough time for you to get real help.
  - chris_wot 8y ago
    Maybe. But they don't do it passively. They will call the police.
    - staticautomatic 8y ago
      It's an absolute shame that you were involuntarily committed only to not get any help while you were in hospital, but are you taking the position that the hotline people shouldn't call the police if they think you're hanging up in order to kill yourself?
      - chris_wot 8y ago
        If they say it is a confidential service and you literally do not give your name, and mask your phone number - then yes.
      - justtopost 8y ago
        Having someone who will listen without the threat of loss of freedom or involuntary death is no small comfort.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- chris_wot 8y ago
  It's worse than that. Lifeline in Australia claim they have a confidential service, but in fact if you call from your mobile phone, don't give your details and turn off caller ID they still have systems that can identify who you are. I should know - I was trying to talk myself down from suicide by calling them, and the next thing I know (hours after I had stopped having those feelings) the police forcibly took me to hospital where I received no treatment whatsoever.
  - asdfghjkl1 8y ago
    Well, you did receive some treatment: poor treatment.
  - throwaway34985 8y ago
    The NSW Mental Health Act is an appalling instrument. I've been highly suicidal and scheduled via so-called "crisis intervention teams" (invoked by my wife) and all it achieves is reinforcing to a suicidal person just how utterly powerless they are and how grossly dysfunctional and incompetent the mental health system is. Locking up law-abiding people only lasts so long, then they leave far, far, far worse than if you had never done that to them. Support services like Lifeline are a waste of time if you've already been plugged into medication and talk therapy for a protracted period. You don't need some well-meaning volunteer to state the obvious that there is help. You've been getting professional help for years. It's losing hope that leads people to suicide. In my case finding a clinical psychologist who prioritises mind-body therapy (with a strong focus on trust and non-violence) made a large difference. Unfortunately it requires far more sessions and a "follow your nose" approach based on the individual client so it doesn't have the empirical robustness of mainstream therapies. But it changes your outlook completely when it's a care-focused therapy (ie the complete opposite of what the Mental Health Act smashes you beyond recognition with).
  - AndrewKemendo 8y ago
    Indeed, and again, pretty much everyone in the depression community knows this and actively avoids these services because of this. I think people call it chaptering now.
asdfghjkl1 8y ago
I want to add https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag to that list. That's what I plan to use if my life doesn't get better. (There is no indication that it will. It has been getting only worse and worse over the past few years.) Knowing that you have access to a painless suicide method is empowering in its own right. There's nothing those hotlines can tell me that I can't tell myself or know already. They can't provide the kind of help that I need.

by jf 8y ago

AndrewKemendo 8y ago

Despite almost everyone who has made an attempt on their life saying it's counterproductive and patronizing, this is consistently the first response on any thread or discussion about suicide. I think this is symptomatic of the broader total failure to understand what could lead someone to suicide, and the tendency to assume what someone in crisis knows or just ditching them off. Maybe just accept that suicide is a human right and engage individuals in crisis as individuals with unique problems.

staticautomatic 8y ago
I've been to the edge and back. It never occurred to me to call a hotline and it never would, but I have no doubt that other people might benefit from it. If the prospect of saving a life isn't enough to get past some abstract hand-wringing then I don't know what is. The point of the hotline isn't to fix you or permanently stave off a desire to kill yourself. The point is to buy enough time for you to get real help.
- chris_wot 8y ago
  Maybe. But they don't do it passively. They will call the police.
  - staticautomatic 8y ago
    It's an absolute shame that you were involuntarily committed only to not get any help while you were in hospital, but are you taking the position that the hotline people shouldn't call the police if they think you're hanging up in order to kill yourself?
    - chris_wot 8y ago
      If they say it is a confidential service and you literally do not give your name, and mask your phone number - then yes.
    - justtopost 8y ago
      Having someone who will listen without the threat of loss of freedom or involuntary death is no small comfort.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
chris_wot 8y ago
It's worse than that. Lifeline in Australia claim they have a confidential service, but in fact if you call from your mobile phone, don't give your details and turn off caller ID they still have systems that can identify who you are. I should know - I was trying to talk myself down from suicide by calling them, and the next thing I know (hours after I had stopped having those feelings) the police forcibly took me to hospital where I received no treatment whatsoever.
- asdfghjkl1 8y ago
  Well, you did receive some treatment: poor treatment.
- throwaway34985 8y ago
  The NSW Mental Health Act is an appalling instrument. I've been highly suicidal and scheduled via so-called "crisis intervention teams" (invoked by my wife) and all it achieves is reinforcing to a suicidal person just how utterly powerless they are and how grossly dysfunctional and incompetent the mental health system is. Locking up law-abiding people only lasts so long, then they leave far, far, far worse than if you had never done that to them. Support services like Lifeline are a waste of time if you've already been plugged into medication and talk therapy for a protracted period. You don't need some well-meaning volunteer to state the obvious that there is help. You've been getting professional help for years. It's losing hope that leads people to suicide. In my case finding a clinical psychologist who prioritises mind-body therapy (with a strong focus on trust and non-violence) made a large difference. Unfortunately it requires far more sessions and a "follow your nose" approach based on the individual client so it doesn't have the empirical robustness of mainstream therapies. But it changes your outlook completely when it's a care-focused therapy (ie the complete opposite of what the Mental Health Act smashes you beyond recognition with).
- AndrewKemendo 8y ago
  Indeed, and again, pretty much everyone in the depression community knows this and actively avoids these services because of this. I think people call it chaptering now.

asdfghjkl1 8y ago

I want to add https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag to that list. That's what I plan to use if my life doesn't get better. (There is no indication that it will. It has been getting only worse and worse over the past few years.) Knowing that you have access to a painless suicide method is empowering in its own right. There's nothing those hotlines can tell me that I can't tell myself or know already. They can't provide the kind of help that I need.