Crisis hotline

Even though crisis hotlines are common, they have not been well studied for efficacy.{{cite journal | vauthors = Sakinofsky I | title = The current evidence base for the clinical care of suicidal patients: strengths and weaknesses | journal = Canadian Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 52 | issue = 6 Suppl 1 | pages = 7S–20S | date = June 2007 | pmid = 17824349 | quote = Other suicide prevention strategies that have been considered are crisis centres and hotlines, method control, and media education... There is minimal research on these strategies. Even though crisis centres and hotlines are used by suicidal youth, information about their impact on suicidal behaviour is lacking. }}{{cite journal|display-authors=6|vauthors=Zalsman G, Hawton K, Wasserman D, van Heeringen K, Arensman E, Sarchiapone M, Carli V, Höschl C, Barzilay R, Balazs J, Purebl G, Kahn JP, Sáiz PA, Lipsicas CB, Bobes J, Cozman D, Hegerl U, Zohar J|date=July 2016|title=Suicide prevention strategies revisited: 10-year systematic review|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30030-X/fulltext|journal=The Lancet. Psychiatry|volume=3|issue=7|pages=646–59|doi=10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30030-X|pmid=27289303|quote=Other approaches that need further investigation include gatekeeper training, education of physicians, and internet and helpline support.|hdl=1854/LU-8509936|hdl-access=free}} One study found that people's thoughts of suicide decreased during a call to a crisis line, and were lessened for several weeks after their call.{{cite book |title=Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices |date=2017 |publisher=CDC |page=7 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicideTechnicalPackage.pdf |access-date=3 December 2019}} Some callers frequently call crisis helplines, which can take up time from those with more immediate crises.{{cite journal |last1=Middleton |first1=Aves |last2=Gunn |first2=Jane |last3=Bassilios |first3=Bridget |last4=Pirkis |first4=Jane |title=Systematic review of research into frequent callers to crisis helplines |journal=Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare |date=11 February 2014 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=89–98 |doi=10.1177/1357633X14524156|pmid=24518928 |doi-access=free |hdl=11343/58507 |hdl-access=free }}

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File:Lifelinelogo.svg (under its former name, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), a crisis line in the United States and Canada]]

Such services began in 1953, when Chad Varah, an English vicar, founded The Samaritans service, which soon established branches throughout the United Kingdom. The first Samaritans branch in the United States was established in Boston in 1974.[http://www.samaritanshope.org/who.html Samaritanshope.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003030320/http://www.samaritanshope.org/who.html |date=October 3, 2008}}

Crisis and Suicide Hotline started in Seattle, WA in 1964 run by Crisis Connections, formerly Crisis Clinic after the assault of a 12-year old girl by a letter carrier. https://www.crisisconnections.org/about/

In addition to Boston, there are currently Samaritan branches in Falmouth, Massachusetts (serving the Cape Cod and Islands area),{{cite web|url=http://www.capesamaritans.org/ |title=Capesamaritans.org |publisher=Capesamaritans.org |date=September 24, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011}} the Merrimack Valley,[http://www.familyserviceinc.com/Program_files/Samaritans.htm Familyserviceinc.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926164854/http://www.familyserviceinc.com/Program_files/Samaritans.htm |date=September 26, 2008}} and the Fall River/New Bedford area.{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans-fallriver.org/ |title=Samaritans-fallriver.org |publisher=Samaritans-fallriver.org |date=August 26, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011}} Outside of Massachusetts, there are branches in New York City,{{cite web |url=http://www.samaritansnyc.org/ |title=Samaritansnyc.org |publisher=Samaritansnyc.org |access-date=November 20, 2011}} Providence,{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritansri.org/ |title=Samaritansri.org |publisher=Samaritansri.org |access-date=November 20, 2011}} Hartford,[http://www.suicidology.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=63 Suicidology.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708101635/http://www.suicidology.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=63 |date=July 8, 2007}} Albany,[http://www.orgsites.com/ny/samaritans-albany/ Orgsites.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127032444/http://www.orgsites.com/ny/samaritans-albany/ |date=January 27, 2009}} and Keene, New Hampshire.{{cite web |url=http://www.volunteersolutions.org/volunteer-nh/org/645839.html |title=Volunteersolutions.org |publisher=Volunteersolutions.org |date=January 20, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304004229/http://www.volunteersolutions.org/volunteer-nh/org/645839.html |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}

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.{{cite book|title=Brief History of Suicide Prevention in the United States |date=September 2012|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109918/|publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine|access-date=10 May 2015}} Bernard Mayes started the San Francisco Suicide Prevention with a hotline named "Call Bruce" in 1962.{{Cite news |last=Whiting |first=Sam |date=2012-04-28 |title=Bernard Mayes to be honored as lifeline to the suicidal |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Bernard-Mayes-to-be-honored-as-lifeline-to-3516576.php |access-date=2014-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016215026/http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Bernard-Mayes-to-be-honored-as-lifeline-to-3516576.php |archive-date=16 October 2023}}{{Cite web |date=2023-10-25 |title=About Us |url=https://www.sfsuicide.org/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019210605/https://www.sfsuicide.org/about/ |archive-date=19 October 2023 |access-date=2023-10-25 |publisher=San Francisco Suicide Prevention}} A similar service, Lifeline, was established in Australia in 1963.

Another service, the volunteer-run crisis helpline Lifelink Samaritans Tas. Inc, originally called Launceston Lifelink, was established in 1968 by concerned citizens of Launceston, Tasmania, 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 their emotional pain with family and friends.

This service provides emotional support 24 hours a day to people throughout Tasmania and does not have any religious affiliations. The organization is a member of Befrienders Worldwide and has a "twinning" relationship with Northampton Samaritans in the UK. Lifelink Samaritans is the oldest telephone befriending service in Tasmania and the fourth oldest in Australia and receives at least 5,000 calls a year. In December 2018 Lifelink Samaritans celebrated 50 years of service.{{cite web|url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5629387/lifelink-support-just-a-phone-call-away-organisation-celebrates-50-years/ |title=Capesamaritans.org |publisher=The Examiner|last= Willard|first= Jessica |date=September 8, 2018 |access-date=September 22, 2022}}

File:MIND 04 W.jpg

Telephone emotional support and crisis hotlines provide a similar telephone support service, and both usually accept crisis and non-crisis calls. In the United States, many college campuses have established telephone counseling lines serviced by volunteers. These hotlines serve callers in crisis, but also serve to provide a listening ear for people who "just need to talk". Typically, hotlines are staffed by trained professionals, and are not intended to replace professional, long-term counseling services. They are rather intended to carry callers through an immediate situation. Such hotlines exist at the University of Maryland,{{Cite web

| url = http://www.counseling.umd.edu/

| title = University of Maryland - Counseling Center at University of Maryland

| website = www.counseling.umd.edu

| access-date = 2016-03-01

}} the University of Minnesota,{{Cite web

| url = http://mentalhealth.umn.edu/crisis/index.html

| title = Crisis Connection

| website = www.umn.edu

| access-date = 2016-12-18

}} Tufts University,{{Cite web

| url = http://sites.tufts.edu/ears4peers/

| title = Tufts Ears for Peers {{!}} "Promise me you will always remember: you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." –A.A. Milne

| website = sites.tufts.edu

| access-date = 2016-03-01

}} Columbia University,{{Cite web

| url = http://www.columbia.edu/cu/nightline/

| title = Nightline: Barnard-Columbia Peer Listening

| website = www.columbia.edu

| access-date = 2016-03-01

}} Cornell University,{{Cite web

| url = http://ears.dos.cornell.edu/

| title = EARS - Empathy, Assistance & Referral Service

| website = ears.dos.cornell.edu

| access-date = 2016-03-01

}} Drexel University,{{Cite web

| url = http://drexel.edu/healthservices/counseling-center/peer-counseling/

| title = Peer Counseling - Counseling and Health Services

| website = Counseling and Health Services

| access-date = 2016-03-01

| archive-date = March 14, 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314222323/http://drexel.edu/healthservices/counseling-center/peer-counseling/

| url-status = dead

}} Caldwell University,{{Cite web

| url = https://www.caldwell.edu/counseling-center/the-counseling-center-hotlines

| title = The Counseling Center- Hotlines - Caldwell University, New Jersey

| website = Caldwell University, New Jersey

| language = en-US

| access-date = 2016-03-01

| archive-date = September 5, 2015

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150905135933/http://www.caldwell.edu/counseling-center/the-counseling-center-hotlines

| url-status = dead

}} and Texas A&M University.{{Cite web|url=https://scs.tamu.edu/HelpLine|title=HelpLine {{!}} Student Counseling Service|website=scs.tamu.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-09}}

The term "emotional support helpline" is sometimes used – which does not imply crisis or counseling, and can include email and text messaging. Such services have allowed for the wider dissemination of resources for people facing mental health crises.

With developments in mobile telephony, the use of text or SMS (short message service) has been utilized by counseling services. Youthline, a youth-oriented crisis helpline in New Zealand, began providing a text messaging counseling support line in 2004.Haxell, A. (2014). Textual activity at Youthline (NZ). New Zealand Journal of Counselling, 34(2), 18-31.

{{main article|List of suicide crisis lines}}

The Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) represents 1200 member centres in 61 countries. It has been formed by:

• Befrienders Worldwide{{cite web|url=http://www.befrienders.org/support/helplines.asp |title=Befrienders.org |publisher=Befrienders.org |access-date=November 20, 2011}} (maintained by the Samaritans UK)
• IFOTES – International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services[http://www.ifotes.org/welcome.html IFOTES.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626004314/http://www.ifotes.org/welcome.html |date=June 26, 2008 }}
• Lifeline International{{Cite web |url=http://www.lifeline-international.org/looking_for_help |title=LifeLine International - Looking for Help |access-date=June 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718175418/http://www.lifeline-international.org/looking_for_help |archive-date=July 18, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

• Emergency telephone number
• Harmonised service of social value
• Hotline
• List of counseling topics
• Telephone counseling
• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (2013 documentary film)
• {{portal-inline|Telephones}}
• Harry Marsh Warren#Save-a-Life League
• Overdose monitoring service
• Quitline

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{{Suicide navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crisis Hotline}}

Category:Telephone numbers

Category:Suicide prevention

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Category:Telecommunications-related introductions in 1953