Emailing The Samaritans?

So I've been thinking about emailing The Samaritans. With all that's been going on in my life, I really need someone who will talk to me consistently and really listen to what I have to say. A couple weeks ago I read about The Samaritans online and that they have an email service. Being as I can't really call, I've been giving thought to emailing them. I've never reached out for help like this and I don't know what to expect. Has anyone here ever emailed The Samaritans, and if so, how was your experience with them? Was it good or bad? Were they helpful? Just curious as to whether this is a good idea or not. I already have a draft open and have been typing out what I want to say, but I'm not sure if it's worth continuing...

Dear ShyPoetGirl, you also can private message any one of the community liasons here at Psych Central (PC). They are all compassionate people and are here to help you.

There are many resources available here at PC.
Some forums you might like:
Creative Corner - Forums at Psych Central

Depression - Forums at Psych Central

Steps to Better Self-Esteem - Forums at Psych Central

I am a shy poet too. I don't like to flaunt poetry but there are times when writing or reading poetry means a lot to me. Let us know what we can do to help.

I have emailed them and they rock

Yes l have had periods when l have email contact with them. They generally respond within 12 hours and they stick with you for as long as you feel you need them. They are fantastic.

I have emailed the Samaritans, it has taken more than a day for a reply, but it is useful if you can't phone. They will take you seriously. Not so good if you need urgent help. The advantage of writing is you can work out how to say what you want exactly right, rather than forgetting important things you want to say on the phone. It is a bit tedious waiting for a reply, if you are going to go back and forth several times though. Sometimes it is just easier to write.

Good luck.

I agree with the above in that it's not good for more urgent help - also, there isn't the immediate opportunity to ask them to elaborate or about anything they haven't answered. It's easy enough to miss things in emails. The thing about phone calls is that sometimes it can lead you down a different path with may prove more beneficial more quickly.

If you're happy to wait around and accept that through either phone or email they can't really advise you of anything - only listen and potentially help you reframe the issue, then go for it.

I have emailed several times and it's useful if you're not comfortable talking over the phone. They usually respond Within a day and will keep responding as long as you need to talk. They are kind but just to say, they're more for listening than giving actual advice, and I usually find they just repeat back what I've said which can be annoying but I think they're just trying to clarify my situation. I would say give them a try, nothing bad will happen. Good luck and I hope it helps. Sometimes it helps me just to write it out and know that someone is reading, even if it's a complete stranger. But like I said, they are very kind and not judgemental at all either.

I found them to be very decent and caring. They are mainly there to listen, but they are empathetic.

Never heard of them so just went to check out their website. Seems pretty cool- is there an American version of this? I guess with email it doesn't matter where you live though.

Back some years ago when I wrote therm (via email,) my notes all went to the U.K., and the replies all came back from there. I'm thinking that the laws might be different over there, compared to here in the States because they allow you to say anything you want about suicidal thinking. This can be a good connection to have, if you are very depressed and feel a need to talk about suicidality, as I did at that time.

They certainly do listen and faithfully respond. It can take a day to hear back from them. You never know who, exactly is responding to your email, and it's probably different volunteers on different days. They all sign off as "Jo." But they must be very well trained because they are pretty consistent in their replies. If you are American, you will notice differences of expression that make it apparent the responses are coming from a different English-speaking country.

They also have a telephone number, and that hooks you up with someone in your own country. I didn't find that too helpful at all.

That's true and also they will often mention things that you talked about several emails ago (in the same conversation) so they even if it's different volunteers they still read over the whole problem, not just the latest email and they pay attention to remember stuff you've said.

Yes, Brave, I noticed that and was impressed by it. They follow your story over time and get to know you. They truly listen and try to put together what is going on with you.

Yes i did it, they were very patient and helpful.

Yes and they also encourage you to keep talking and they ask questions to help you open up.

Who are the Samaritans? Sounds interesting

They are a support organisation kind of thing, you can email or ring them when you need help with anything or just to talk. Here is a link if you want to take a look.

Samaritans