I was having a very difficult time last night, so I went to an online crisis helpline. I told them I self-injure, and they said they could not help me and to contact my therapist. I had already contacted my therapist, and was waiting for her reply; I thought after they knew that someone in my life knew what was going on they would talk to me. Instead, they still said they could not help me and wanted me to contact another therapist. I have no other therapist and there are no back-ups. I was so upset that I spent so much time finding this hotline and feeling like the door was slammed in my face that I just wanted to leave the chat and be by myself. So I pretended that there was someone else I could call and left the chat.

What I want to understand is why this happened. This was a crisis line that helps with things like s**c*de, s*xual assault, etc., so I'm not sure why they were not able to speak with me. I was not actively SI'ing when I was talking to them, nor was I threatening to do it. I was just giving background information that I was a self-injurer.

Has anyone else gone to a crisis chat or called a hotline and had this experience? Can someone shed some light on why this may have happened?