Hi guys and gals,

So I estimate that I have called the distress center in my local city about 150 times this past year and a half. They have kept me alive. Recently I began calling a distress center in a different city. I believe they are run by a different organization, so their policies are a little different.

Here's the problem...

Today I called into this alternative distress center at this other city for the third or fourth time. After talking for a few minutes the male volunteer asked me if I had called into their line before to talk about the same issues. The answer was yes: I had indeed talked about the same issue on their line in a prior phone call. He immediately said that he couldn't help me because it didn't fit inside their scope and suggested giving me outside referrals and ending the call...

This baffled me, my response was that it was the only 24 hour crisis hotline in that particular city and so I began asking questions.

Apparently they consider themselves a, "short term," service and if someone calls in (with the same problem more than once) they can no longer talk because it is then considered a, "long term service."

Is it just me or does that seem strange? Someone who struggles with suicide usually has a reason and if they can only talk about the reason - one time - doesn't that defeat the purpose of a suicide hotline? Surely traumas don't just go away... Do they really expect people not to talk about their issues ever again? A suicide hotline is often times the LAST RESORT - aren't they supposed to listen?

Upon asking more questions, their rationale (from my understanding) is: because they have already given a caller suggestions and a list of coping mechanisms to deal with the particular issues a caller has previously shared: they are expected to utilize those coping mechanisms since the coping mechanisms are enough for them to cope on their own and thus: they no longer need to call into the distress center...

Am I crazy to question this...?

My understanding is that they have a limited amount of resources and tons of callers and fair enough: that cannot be forgotten. I'm sure some people abuse the service too. But that is just not the way to deal with people who call into a suicide hotline, especially if they are repeated callers!

If anyone is interested in calling them yourself - private message me for the phone number and you can ask about it yourself next time you feel the need to call someone for help.

What do you all think about this? Are all distress hotlines like this? I know the one in my city would never say that!

Thanks,
HD7970ghz