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femmestem t1_j4lxcbu wrote

Reply to comment by sirunknownlandon in New suicide hotline 3 digit 988 receiving half a million more calls texts, and chats since starting than prior 10 digit number by Inkling2424

This is not as terrible as it may seem on the surface. The hotline is meant to mitigate immediate loss of life. The first things they assess are intent, means, and urgency. The majority of people who are suicidal have a momentary impulse that will pass if you can distract them long enough to break the script. It doesn't cure depression or suicidal ideation. From there, long term care is needed.

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FrankenGretchen t1_j4mlqed wrote

Or they can be like Nicholasville, KY PD who responded to a 988 call with family present, botch the call start to finish by not following their own training procedures and shoot the distressed person to death because he 'looked like he had a gun.' Then, they claimed they'd not been trained and the whole thing was an unfortunate misunderstanding. 988 is rightly becoming seen as a further opportunity for police brutality.

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mckblee t1_j4pt0h9 wrote

I'll never forget seeing a small group of people marching in protest of this to raise awareness, then driving past the PD who had (in their fear of 40ish people with paper signs) put up brand-new temporary fencing around the new $500k station with big 'ol "NO TRESPASSING" signs on each panel to deter the protest from ending up in their parking lot 🤣 talk about pathetic.

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FrankenGretchen t1_j56z4wv wrote

Right? The Roots and Heritage festival gets the Mobile Command center every year. Like cornbread and collard greens are terrorist threats.

Which Lex protest had 50 marchers and 100 police in full riot gear? It was a bit ago. Maybe Breonna's vigil? There's so much FEAR with these ones it's hard to keep their overreactions sorted.

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sirunknownlandon t1_j4m8bt2 wrote

Yes. However, that's not what they do. A lot of times your literally faced with someone who probably has had no training, has some information in front of them, and is just doing it like it's a call center job. Long term care and proper resources are needed, yes, but the system doesn't do its job effectively. Hell, one time the only reason I stopped to consider things was because I was laughing at the genuine advice given to me by someone with no clue what they were doing. This was in my teens and I knew better and just hung up. A lot of people who have had to use the service have been failed by it and ultimately it doesn't do what it should. There are other crisis hotlines and I always advise using them instead.

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0bsolescencee t1_j4nwz02 wrote

I worked at a crisis line for women fleeing domestic violence and I literally received no training at all. I worked in the shelter and had to answer the crisis line if it rang. I always dreaded it ringing because it was so stressful not knowing what to do.

I preferred night shifts where there were less calls than any other times. The work in the field appears to be so difficult they struggle to find staffing, so they struggle to provide training from the non-existent senior staff.

I've called a variety of different crisis lines for my own personal use, and it's super hit and miss on if you'll get someone trained or who doesn't provide shitty advice. One time I got into a routine of having debilitating panic attacks on the same day of the week and kept getting the same chick who had no idea what to do. It was annoying lmao.

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