Suicide crisis line is dumb

@georgette12 I will relate an incident that happened while I was employed as a 911 dispatcher for a sheriff's department. A "ring down" line, used between law enforcement agencies to call each other, or patch a call through, rang. It was a local police dept. "Here, I think this is yours", then they hung up. In those days cell phones went to the state's highway patrol. The upshot of this call was, a man called 911 on his cell phone, it went to highway patrol, who figured based on his location he was in the service area for local police, but when that dept determined he was in the county service area, they rang him down to us. This man was in a suicidal crisis, making one last call. Fortunately, I was on shift that night, and was the only one familiar with his location. I was able to talk him down and waited with him until I had deputies there. He was intent on suicide that night and reached out one more time. It could have ended very differently. Fortunately, it was a good outcome.
Ginger

@georgette12- Hello. I can't imagine how terrifying and frustrating this must have been. I would report the first agency. I wouldn't know who would handle this but by reporting it, it might stop another person from being hung up on.
How is your friend doing? Did she survive her ordeal? You sound like a very good friend.

I called the national suicide crisis line for my friend. I had the call on speaker. She became very upset because she kept being put on "hold." She told me to hang up, which I did. I was finally able to find another number and an actual crisis counselor answered. A real voice for a real person. What's wrong with this picture?

Hi @georgette12 you may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion you started so that all of your posts on this topic would be in one place. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to get to your post.

You mentioned that everything turned out alright. How is your friends grandson doing?

Thanks so much for all your replies . I just saw that we may be getting a 3 digit suicide crisis line to go country wide. Check the web.
My friend's grandson is okay at this time. He has asperger's syndrome and is in special education. However his mother is not taking this seriously. And grandma can't intervene at this point.

So my son's birthday is tomorrow, the 13th. He would have been 55. Suicide was August 13, 2016.

Newly approved 988 special suicide crisis line. Look up 3 digit suicide crisis line on google for details.

Thanks for this info, @georgette12

Here's more info about the national suicide number 988.
- FCC unanimously approves proposal for new 3-digit number as Suicide Prevention Hotline https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/12/politics/fcc-988-suicide-prevention-hotline/index.html

It was around age 55 that I went through a very difficult time. I tried to od several times. After an emergency visit to my doctor, to tell him what was going on, I decided to self admit to the only facility in my area. It was a nice, new place, with one hallway to 6-8 men's bedrooms with a common bathroom, and another similar wing for women.

It having been in operation for only a few months, there were glitches that needed to be resolved, especially with staff.

I stayed there for six weeks, around ten times the usual stay. I knew that if I left I'd be dead within a week, so I stayed until I felt sort of safe.

That was in November and December of 2005, and I'm still alive. That's thanks to my support system - my wife, my faith, a revolving door of therapists, a psych service dog and a bunch of good doctors.

Calling a suicide help line wasn't anywhere near my line of vision. Why would I call someone to have them try to stop me. It just seemed totally irrational to me. But, of course, I wasn't using my rational mind during those times, so what seems rational to a suicidal person is just the opposite of what most people would call rational.

Now, 14 years later, I am in a much safer place. I retired after the suicidal portion of my life, at 55, moved to a new place close to medical professionals, and live on ten acres 7 miles from the nearest town, but an hour away from the city where there are every kind of specialists and a good hospital.

Medications and therapists keep my mental state stable, though I don't have a therapist right now. The last one was really good, but he moved away after just one year. I felt somewhat devastated and I still miss him a year later. The hospital hired a new therapist, and I saw her for a few months, but I couldn't establish a rapport with her, so I stopped seeing her. Unfortunately, the therapists that work for the hospital are the only ones who accept Medicare. Living on Social Security doesn't allow for what amounts to luxuries, like therapists.

I've been, as I said, medicated to keep me stable, but what is stable for me would most likely be fairly depressed to others. Being stable means that serious depression and anxiety, etc., are really just under the surface, and I'm told that I am a professional at wearing a mask.

But back to suicide helplines. When I'm in a suicidal bubble, calling 911 or 988 is dumb to me. I don't want anyone to know that I'm swallowing a bottle of opioid or antidepressant or Clonazepam or whatever pills I have access to. I want to be left alone as I put myself out of my misery. Thankfully, it's been a long time since I was in that state. I still think about it but it's not a compulsion.

I agree that our country needs a more accessible mental health system. The small town nearest me is sorely lacking. There's more help in the town that's 30 miles away, and even more in the city that's 50 miles away, but they might as well be 1000 miles away as far as my budget is concerned. So, I tighten down the strings on my mask and keep on forging ahead.

Jim

@jimhd Your honesty and clarity of thought in expressing your ideas on a new National Suicide line, and how your life is impacted, is refreshing.
Ginger

That is terrible! You shouldn't have had that experience.
I am sure you see it everyday- everyone is so busy, not enough volunteers.
And you know that doing something good for someone else makes you feel better about yourself.
So ya I am a day or two late on this post.
But that is the best I can do without some back and forth dialogue.
You are still here inspite of the fact that there were too few volunteers the day you needed one
What can you do to be there for someone?
Drive Veterans to the doctors? (call your local VFW, American Legion or VA office)
Volunteer at food pantry?
Shovel a neighbors sidewalk?
Help out at the Salvation Army?
Sometimes the connections you make volunteering can lead you to other opportunities.
Networking.