Hey /b/ I work at a suicide prevention hotline based in the Midwest. Ask me anything while I tell you stories.
Let's start with a nice one: >Be me, just getting off call with a girl who wanted to kill herself over some guy leaving >Logging the notes of the call while microwaving a soft pretzel >Fuck me those pretzels are good >Phone on desk starts to ring >Rush back and pick it up >An old raspy sounding man starts talking >Ask me "Do you got time for a story" >Have to respond yes >Think he is going to tell me a depressing war story, or his entire life story >Old people do that a lot >Guy responds "You ever heard of animal farm" >I'm a fucking retard >think he's talking about a literal farm, they are everywhere here >I ask him to clarify >"You know the book" >Nope.communism >"Oh perfect" >The old man starts reading me animal farm >He does different voices for all the characters
I had to ask him to call back later after about 20 minutes, we were getting more calls. Old man, if you are out there somewhere thanks for the best fucking night shift I ever had.
wow that was really thoughtful of him, good idea on his part!
Caleb Reed
How do you mentally handle a job like this?
Luke Powell
Go on..
Michael Perez
Compartmentalizing. It's a massive part of the training. You are also taught to decompress after work and not take what happened home with you. That shit doesn't always work though. There are a lot of calls you won't be able to shake off.
How does one check base ID? Need this for future reference.
Matthew Miller
*IP
Zachary Myers
>Friday, about 6 PM >In room, browsing Jow Forums and playing Minecraft >Dad comes in >"Hey buddy, have any plans for the weekend?" >"Not really, no." >"Why don't you go out with some friends? It's a nice night." >Conversation continues for another five minutes >Dad asks about girls and my "friends" >I try to dodge around admitting I have no friends and have no experience with girls >But he knows >"Ok buddy, just let me know if you ever want a ride somewhere, or you can borrow my car any time you want." >Pats me on the shoulder and leaves >I get back to Minecraft >After a few minutes, feel thirsty >No drinks in my room >Venture out of my room and go to the kitchen >Hear my father in the living room, crying >Look around the corner >He's looking through photo albums at pictures of me >"Hey Dad." >He looks up, trying to hide that he was crying >"I'm going out with some friends, can I still borrow the car?" >He smiles the happiest smile I have seen in years >"Sure thing buddy." >He gets up and hugs me, tears in his eyes >I get dressed, get in the car and leave >I drive to an empty parking lot in an industrial area >I go to sleep in the back seat >Return home the next morning >Pretend I was out with friends all night >Dad hugs me again
I've been doing this almost every weekend for months now.
Oliver Robinson
Just remember OP, if you ever rescue a damsel in distress, all you'll get in return is a distressed damsel.
>get texts from suicidal girl >she sends pics of herself at bridge edge >9/10 just the way you like it >convince her to be your gf >she becomes forever attached to you >if you ever break up she will probably try to kill herself again >mfw
One call i won't be able to get over is something that hit way to close to home for me.
>Be me about a year into the job >Have my own box of pretzels in the freezer at this point. >Pic related they are really fucking good. >Get a call from a young sounding girl >She says she's 13 >We'll call her Sarah >Sarah was crying as she was telling me about her father >Her dad was the only parent she had left >Mom died when she was younger. >Told me about how her dad used to tuck her in at night and read her stories. >Told me about how he used to play vidja with her when she was younger >Told me that her dad hadn't been home in a while >He didn't come home about a week ago and she was just there by herself >She got the news earlier that day that her dad's body had been found. >Sarah tells me that she doesn't know what she is going to do now. >She has no one left in her life After she was done talking she hung up. I don't know what happened I just hope she's okay.
I fucked up that one part user, Cut a man some slack. It's been a long day
After nearly losing my thumb it's been a bitch to type. Thanks for understanding.
Stop user. He's going to catch on sooner or later and be more disappointed than before
Nathaniel Thomas
This. How did anyone not catch this sooner.
Connor Stewart
My god idk what is more sad,raise an incel or be an adult that still plays minecraft...
Joseph Carter
I got picked on in high school a lot. I figured out the best protection was to convince them I was batshit crazy. So, one day, I called the local young kids suicide hotline they kept shilling at my school: >hello bullshit hotline who am I speaking to >just cry uncontrollably >student on other end is losing his shit >c-can I have your name? >more sobbing >I-I’m outting you on speakerphone, o-okay? >more sobbing >asks me my name >I give him my first name >user, user! Listen, this is Jamie. YOU KNOW ME. We’re not supposed to say our names like this, but.... >Jamie was one of the little shits giving me motherfucking bloody hell in school >lots of feel gud talking while he “talks me down” >go to school next day >everybody is soooo nice to me Suicide hotlines are useful.
Leo Allen
I currently work a live chat job, but it is meaningless and unsatisfying, other than being a work from home chat job (very comfy). Are there live chat gigs for suicide prevention that pay a living wage? Super interested. Keep doing what you do user.
Daniel Bell
Just start volunteering somewhere, you don’t have to be charismatic you just have to be helpful
John Perez
don't many suicide hotline people end up having nervous breakdowns or worse?
Leo Wright
>He thinks those two different things
Alexander Walker
old copypasta and newfags don't even know
Daniel Sanders
I hate being a newfag reeee
Asher Reed
Back when I was finishing my masters, my psychiatrist recommended that I look into it. Told me that it would help me move on from shit I went through while helping people that were in the same boat as me. They weren't wrong
I'm a Shadow Kike?
Honestly it doesn't make me feel anything. I am so fucking desensitized at this point.Yeah we all have the "I don't want to die alone story."
I have no idea. I make a living wage here but I also work long fucking days. I guess it's a trade off. I am currently just here until I finish off my PhD
Yes. It's fucking sad but true. I think suicide hotline operators and 911 operators have a really high dependency on antidepressants.
>call suicide hotline, obstensibly for assistance >spill guts >hang up before any response What did she mean by this? Is this a common occurance? Any way to legally follow up? How often do you involve LE for welfare checks, is there a "fuck call the cops" checklist callers need to tick the boxes on?
Sorry for the pretzel shilling. I am just a fat bastard who eats a pretzel with mustard during every break
Either way someone asked about a failure story. I don't have any real stories where I fucking drove someone to kill themselves, but I have a couple where there was fuck all I do. I'll type them up in a response to this
boy, I fucked up. Leave it be
Average police response time for my area is about an hour. That isn't because cops are busy or anything, we are in the fucking country. Thats how far away the station is.
We do alert the police if people are an immediate harm to others. Like if someone called and said "I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER MY WIFE" cops would be called. However, unless the person is an immediate fucking danger to themselves we don't usually call. Let's put it like this, if you are having a shit day/life, last thing you want is to be taken to the station and labeled as suicidal if you aren't planning anything.
Cooper Brown
Not OP obviously but sometimes people just need to vent. Shit, even 4chin is good for that. Do they still have baww threads on /b/? Those were nice. Sad, but nice.
Semi-related question OP might know: is there like a place you can go and say "Hey Ive done nothing wrong but might be an imminent danger to society. Pre emptively detain me", or something? Asking for a friend for science.
Levi Lopez
>Playing Minecraft
What are you 8?
Jordan Martin
You faggot you stole this
Noah Lee
Hahahahaha
Aaron Gray
Why mustard?
Dominic Torres
I saw this in a gay greentext compilation
Juan Sullivan
it's called the psych ward retard
Ryan Rodriguez
If this is a marketing campaign for pretzels it worked, I've never bought store pretzels but I want to now.
Real talk, how much do you guys get paid? What is the attrition rate?
Aaron Lee
When people call you do they tell you why they are feeling suicidal or do they just say that they want to off themselves?
has any one ever called in from having chrons or ulcer colitis?
I have been dealing with uc for 8 years and I really cant keep this up, i eat maybe 500 calories a day and I cant do any of the exercise or hobbies I used to.
l see no way to enjoy life with this disease
Isaiah Sanchez
lel gotcha
Kevin Fisher
Someone who got caught & has to do community service
Never figured that one out. Guilt? Virtue-signalling for mommy and daddy? It really was funny to call a suicide prevention line and find myself talking to one of the faggots that had been bullying me. I was just calling to stir shit.
Asher Hughes
A fucking savvy merchant man.
Dominic Brown
I'm no expert but I THINK this is how it works:
A hospital will put you in a psych ward for such comments. But I don't think (at least in the US), you'll get anything other than water, some drugs, and a bed. If you're not posing a risk to yourself or others after a couple days of observation, I'm pretty sure they'll just release you. You might get interviewed by a doctor but not much else.
If you need someone to keep you locked in a room that isn't a prison cell, the hospital will do that. But if you want someone to talk with about your mental issues you probably want a therapist.
Gabriel Martinez
OH SHIT. HAHAHAHA I THINK YOU NAILED IT. FUUUUUUUUGGGGGG
Connor White
Nah, I sound like a disgusting mix of russian and american. I don't think "I vam vering nthing" would get someone off.
Police station. No meme here. If you feel you are a danger to yourself or others you can turn yourself in and they will get you the help you need.
>bait Try it, it sounds fucking disgusting but I promise it's not. Yellow mustard though, none of that fancy shit.
For the loss story, sadly a lot of them follow the same script of "I just did/took/ate _________ and I don't want to die alone." This one isn't really any different.
>be, I think, first month or so on job >Too early in career for pretzels >those came after like 2 months when I got sick of burritos
>Woman calls up >She sounds middle aged and drunk >Tells me that she has been really lonely lately >Can't find a man to settle down with >Can't get a steady job >Feels like a failure >Tell me she took a handful of Xanax >Tells me she just doesn't want to die alone >Nearest hospital is about an hour away near the police station >Send the alert anyway >We talk for a while about just random shit >What movies we like >Music we enjoy >How shitty this state is >After a while she just goes quiet
We have a 90+% white population. No one in the center speaks anything other than english
I haven't had anything like that, but is it treatable user.
We get both. A lot of times it's just people wanting to tell their stories. When people are reaching out while suicidal they really just need someone to listen. A lot of the time they don't want to end their own lives, but are close to doing so. So we do end up sitting through a lot of life stories.
Luke Lopez
Old /b/ you mean right?? Because this new /b/ is worse than reddit.
>I was just calling to stir shit. user you cried your eyes out the second the other guy answered the phone. You don't have to pretend to be a tough guy here. *hugs*
I want more fucking pretzels now. Fuck it I'm going to store, I'll just phone post. Also to preempt some questions.
Are you a shill for those good ass pretzels >I fucking wish, I am just a fat man who loves pretzels.
Where do I call if I am feeling suicidal: >I would stick to local places, a lot of the larger charities and organizations have a shitty policy with immediately alerting the police when you call and sound like you could be a danger to yourself.
How can I get involved: >Local hiring events, calling the business line and asking
I can't find the post of the guy who asked but Do you get calls like the weepy voice killer: >Yes actually more than you'd guess. Well not the "I killed someone part" but the "Stop just listen" part. A lot of people don't want to talk and just want to be heard for once. We do allow that.
Owen Turner
What should I do if I can't rationalize any reason to keep on living but can't kill myself either because brain still working alright? Btw based granpa
Same thing when all the bullies are in the student-friend-anti-bully-whatever-groups tho those are usually voted in by popularity.
Sebastian Gomez
only people who kid themselves that they can actually do anything get bent out of shape. listen kid, here's the deal.
In the end it's the person doing the calling who makes the choices, not you. You can pretend you're helping people, that you're making the world a better place but it will come back to bite you.
Just do what they're paying you to do to the letter and when someone calls just see how it plays out with no expectations. That way when it goes bad you're not surprised.
Ian Morris
This job is going to give you ptsd. Quit.
Xavier Smith
This one time a girl tried to bully me and I was like "I know Kung Fu". Then I kicked her right in the cunt. Fawking bitch.
Aaron Williams
This greentext is a thousand years old. Go back to /b/
Michael Walker
>these fucking newfags don't know this is pasta
Nicholas Bell
Pasta!? Where's your meatballs? Tss tss.
Hudson Ortiz
I think the only call I have gotten where someone killed someone else was a call from a veteran talking about NAM. I do have that story written up and I'll post it when I get back.
I would say try to find hope in your every day life. Set goals that you can accomplish with some work. A lot of people set fucking ridiculous goals like "I WANT TO BE A NFL PLAYER" and get really fucking down when they fail.
Set yourself some reasonable goals that will later build up to larger things.
Too late on that one, child abuse is a bitch
God that is fucking terrible advice from someone who is under trained and under appreciated.
