Crisis hotline
Encyclopedia
A crisis hotline is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency telephone counseling
Telephone counseling
Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors...
, usually by trained volunteers. Such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the United States at least since the mid-1970s. Initially set up to help those contemplating suicide, many have expanded their mandate to deal more generally with emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
al crises. Similar hotlines operate to help people in other circumstances, including rape victims, bullying victims, runaway children, and people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or intersex.
History
Such services began in 1953, when Chad VarahChad Varah
Reverend Prebendary Edward Chad Varah, CH, CBE was a British Anglican priest. He is best remembered as the founder of The Samaritans, established in 1953 as the world's first crisis hotline organisation, offering non-religious telephone support to those contemplating suicide.-Life:Varah was born...
, an English vicar, founded The Samaritans
Samaritans (charity)
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline. The name comes from the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, though the organisation...
service, which soon established branches throughout the United Kingdom. The first Samaritans branch in the United States was established in Boston in 1974. In addition to Boston, there are currently Samaritan branches in Falmouth
Falmouth, Massachusetts
Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States; Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 31,531 at the 2010 census....
(serving the Cape Cod and Islands
Cape Cod and Islands
Cape Cod and the Islands is a common local name for the area of southeast Massachusetts including Barnstable , Dukes , and Nantucket Counties, and by some definitions including part or all of the towns of Plymouth and Wareham...
area), the Merrimack Valley
Merrimack Valley
The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, United States. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in the New England region and has helped define the livelihood and culture of those living along it since native...
, the Fall River
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
/New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
area. Outside of Massachusetts, there are branches in New York City, Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, and Keene, New Hampshire
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest...
.
In the United States, the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center was founded in 1958 and was the first in the country to provide a 24-hour suicide prevention crisis line and use community volunteers in providing hotline service. San Francisco Suicide Prevention started a hotline "Call Bruce" in 1962. A similar service, Lifeline, was established in Australia in 1963. A totally volunteer-run crisis hotline, Samaritans Tasmania, originally called Launceston Lifelink, then Lifelink Samaritans was established in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 1968 by concerned citizens of Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
who decided to create a phone service based on the principles of the Samaritans. The rationale was that people often become suicidal because they cannot discuss with family and friends their emotional pain. This service provides emotional support 24 hours a day to callers from all over the state of Tasmania and does not have any religious affiliations. The organisation is a member of Befrienders Worldwide
Befrienders Worldwide
Befrienders Worldwide is a charity that helps people worldwide who are tempted to suicide or despair. They listen without judging people or telling them what to do. If there is someone to listen, this can sometimes keep a person alive who might otherwise die...
and has a "twinning" relationship with Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
Samaritans in the UK. Samaritans Tasmania is the oldest telephone befriending service in Tasmania and the fourth oldest in Australia and it receives at least 5000 calls a year.
Criticism and logistical issues
One criticism of suicide hotlines in the past was that those who were determined to kill themselves were unlikely to call one. Also, those with social anxietySocial anxiety
Social anxiety is anxiety about social situations, interactions with others, and being evaluated or scrutinized by other people...
may not have the emotional resources to do so. Until recently, there was no evidence that the presence of suicide hotlines reduced the incidence of suicide. However, a 2007 study has suggested otherwise, as peoples' thoughts of suicide decreased during a call to a crisis line, and were lessened for several weeks after their call.
Another issue is that crisis hotlines often contact local authorities. The fear of embarrassment from having the police involved can deter many people who would have otherwise called the hotline. Compounding this further, getting police involved can cause a troubled situation at home to become even worse, members of an already dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
become more irate with the distressed person. Also, being asked for an address can be seen as an immediate violation of trust, leading to even deeper feelings of hopelessness and isolation. However, many crisis lines do not trace calls and will only offer to send medical assistance if the caller asks for it, thus ensuring that callers can use the service without fear of unwanted emergency services involvement. Callers can ask the particular crisis line they're using what their policy is regarding this matter.
Telephone counseling
Some countries regulate the use of the term "counselor". Telephone counselingTelephone counseling
Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors...
and Crisis hotlines provide a similar telephone support service, and both usually accept crisis and non-crisis calls.
The term "emotional support helpline" is sometimes used – which does not imply crisis or counselling, and can include email and messaging.
List of crisis hotlines
The Volunteer Emotional Support HelplinesVolunteer Emotional Support Helplines
Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines is a planned combined international network of telephone counseling services being formed by the 3 largest international services...
(VESH) represents 1200 member centres in 61 countries. It has been formed by
- Befrienders WorldwideBefrienders WorldwideBefrienders Worldwide is a charity that helps people worldwide who are tempted to suicide or despair. They listen without judging people or telling them what to do. If there is someone to listen, this can sometimes keep a person alive who might otherwise die...
(maintained by the Samaritans UK) - IFOTES – International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services,
- Lifeline International
Other telephone hotlines:
- Amigos da Vida (Brazil)
- National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-HOPE)
- The LowdownThe LowdownThe Lowdown is a New Zealand website developed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health's National Depression Initiative . The website launched on December 3, 2007.- Mission :...
, a project funded by the New Zealand government - National Suicide Prevention LifelineNational Suicide Prevention LifelineThe National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK is a suicide prevention network of 132 crisis centers in the United States, that provides a 24-hour, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. After dialing 1-800-273-TALK, the caller is routed to their...
, A national 24/7 hotline for callers in the United States - The Trevor ProjectThe Trevor ProjectThe Trevor Project is an American non-profit organization founded in 1998 and the leading national organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Through a toll-free telephone number, it operates The Trevor Lifeline, a...
, an American hotline aimed principally at LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
teenagers - 1-866-SPEAK-UP, and American anonymous youth violence reporting hotline created by The Center to Prevent Youth ViolenceThe Center to Prevent Youth ViolenceThe Center to Prevent Youth ViolenceThe Center to Prevent Youth Violence , formerly known as PAX, was co-founded in 1998 by Daniel Gross and Talmage Cooley, with the mission of ending the crisis of youth violence in America....