Here they have only hospitalized me if I was a danger to myself or others. I’ve been in 7 psychiatric hospitals and I’ve been admitted twice to a regular hospital for psychiatric reasons. All of my hospitalizations were warranted.
I think you shouldn’t dismiss it without giving it a chance, especially not based on hearsay.
Emergency services can only be involved if the therapist feels there is a genuine threat of violence or suicide.
If you have “dark” thoughts, try to write them down so you can read them over and experiment with phrasing them in a less threatening way.
You can’t have the police called on you for telling a mental health worker you feel life is not worth living and you’re not keen on being alive. But if you call them and rant for 20 minutes about some very specific plans you have for a suicide, that’s a legitimate threat they can and should act on.
There are many ways of saying you’re having thoughts about suicide, self harm or violence, without sounding like you’re about to act on them unless you’re stopped.
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Crisis hotlines in the US seem to only want to talk to you if you are suicidal and/or homicidal. They refuse to talk with you if you are experiencing insomnia, loneliness, anxiety or mild sadness.
I used to call Crisis lines all the time. Now, I never do.
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You would be wise to steer clear. You do know they sell your information to universitys in the way of statistics - and they get a “kick back” for every client they sign up?
I dont like to sound like someone that has got it in for them - bu they are truly dodgy mate.
I have emailed them to politely inform them they can do one!
Have you tried the Voices Clinic?
Also got referred to that as well for 8 sessions
They’re calling me on Monday
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Yeah! Did the voices clinic. You got the book too?
I have my own personal screwy coping skills lol - so was sorta helpful.
Its worth doing.
This doesnt sound right at all. You should be able to confide in them honestly or the therapy is pointless.
Where are you from Joker? And what kind of stuff do you mean by “dark things”?
I am from England.
Dark things that revolve around my tendency towards nihilism mainly when I am distressed
Also the fact they always ask me if I have plans to kill myself. I always have plans, and always on edge about whether to do it
I feel however I am too much of a coward to do it properly, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation now
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I am in England too. I found therapy very useful. I had CBT, and music therapy. And both times I could talk about what I wanted without worrying about what they thought of me etc. I also saw 2 occupational therapists. First I didnt like, second was kind. But all times with NHS I can say what I want.
I guess if you say you have plans, maybe thats their trigger point to do something. TBH I never get that far with planning suicide. Sometimes I have rough ideas, but I never have concrete plans. How are you speaking when you say this? Is it possible that you are acting aggressive or anything like that? It seems really strange to me that they don’t want you to be honest in therapy.
To answer your question, I guess I don’t talk to that many people about it, but when I do I try and get the most out of it.
I confide in a good friend of mine who is educated in psychology. She isnt a doctor or anything but she does listen to me and give my advice that is usually pretty solid. I also talk to my mum about some things that don’t upset her (rarely about death etc). And I speak with a couple of other friends who are sympathetic and understanding about MH, I try and just slip it into conversation sometimes. Oftentimes they have issues too which makes me feel better.
The worst is bottling things up and never being able to speak about stuff. If I keep doing that its when I get sad and hopeless and feeling like no one understands me and that I don’t belong on earth anymore.
I also find some people are more frequently sympathetic, and other people don’t really show any interest or care about your problems. So you have to work out who is worth sharing your problems with. If they don’t answer your problem properly or they pawn you off with something you don’t believe in, then they are not really worth sharing much with as you will feel more misunderstood for trying to discuss things and not finding a resolution. Similarly some people always refer you to some trouble in their life rather than addressing yours, which is also not usually helpful.
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How is your medication Joker? Have you considered changing your drugs if you are contemplating death?
Apparently meds are helping me as much as they can
I asked to be heavily sedated at weekends but the doctor didn’t like the idea of that
Thats a shame.
I guess all you can do, is when they ask you if you’ve made plans, just try and show that you have insight. Or explain to them what it is that stops you or something. If you tell them “yes I am going to kill myself at this time and place” then maybe they have to hospitalise you as you are showing yourself at risk of harming yourself.
I’m in Surrey but I get a huge range of responses on the crisis line.
-I’ve had people that act very unemotional and as if I’m trying to arrange a pizza delivery or something - no empathy.
-I’ve had people tell me off as if I’m a school boy acting up.
-And only once or twice I’ve had people that really talked to me gently and supported me as I expected to.
-I also had one person just kind of write off I was saying “oh make yourself a hot drink and go to sleep”, trying to get rid of me quickly - very low effort.
Its worth calling when I feel angry or very upset, but its always a gamble who you actually get on the other end of the line.
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Thats my main complaint. It should not be a flaming “gamble” when you ring them.
Maybe im being too judgemental, but after being in MH services for 35+ years - you tend to recognise wankers when you hear them - and dismiss accordingly.
I refuse to use them. The way they help you in a crisis is not a helping ear - its sending the old bill round, smashing your door in and doing you on a Section 136.
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I mean, I do think that is true to some degree. They never actually do anything to help that’s proactive. They just tell my psychiatrist I used the line. Which he then does nothing with.
I don’t see why they have such a big issue finding suitable staff, or training them to properly deal with upset people. There really can’t be that many different types of callers. What they are doing should be relatively easy for the right candidate. It seems strange that such a simple task is such a gamble.
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Its basically cos they are all short staffed and over worked. Most of them have probably only recieved training for depression and anxiety - and the odd 40 year old struggling with the wife and the mortgage.
Any severe mental illness like Schizophrenia - and they are way outta their depth. Your probably likely to get some 20+ something undergrad anyway thats younger than your own children.
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I don’t know. The staff that pissed me off the most both definitely sounded older. Like probably in their 40’s at least. One guy I spoke to recently sounded young and was super helpful. I feel like its more the older people that’s the problem for me. They just CBA.
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I hope you don’t!!
I want to hear you play harp sometime 
I’d PM you but your profile is closed.
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I’ll try to record something soon!
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I hope you feel better and don’t want to die.
Anything bothering you?
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