I had a whole response typed up for you on my phone, then a call came through and it disappeared

The crisis line was a bit cumbersome to get to a real person at first, but I sat through it this time (they also manage the crisis line for the VA, so they have a message directing veterans to push another option to be connected with someone from the VA). This time around, someone picked up relatively quickly. In the past, the only other time I made it through the whole message, it took the guy several minutes (or it felt like several minutes) to pick up. The woman was nice. She let me talk and was supportive. She didn't freak out when I told her what was in my head. She was a bit concerned when I told her I pulled over while driving, and she checked with me a few times to make sure I was safe. She wasn't judgmental, and let me talk myself out to help me ground. She was also ok with the silence she got on the line while I was collecting my thoughts and trying to figure out how to say what I needed to...

I have a huge fear of calling crisis lines, so the fact that this was a positive experience helped a lot. I've had some pretty negative experiences int eh past with some local lines in my home state. the number to this one is 800-273-8255