Published on 12, July, 2020
I've written on here many times as my obsession is with suicide prevention, which I have got caught up with in a big way, but do not want to die , but realise that we autistics have a very high risk of this.
I've tried the usual things with drugs, psychotherapy etc and in my quest (as a research doctor) , I ve now set up a major research group , with many of the National experts in the country. It has taken years to get to this point but we are approaching a launch and I wondered about others opinions as to a useful avenue.
Existing services are largely medical ( with no evidence they save lives) and listening eg Samaritans (who NEVER give advice), but always listen and chat to ask you about your worries.
We will have a launch to thousands of people. and I feel we need a NEW service that is effective. Many suicidal thoughts relate to problems which are not medical (they are about relationships, finance, legal matters etc) so my idea is to give free access to any experts who wish to register and help with suicidal distress with anonymised (safe advice) I know my problems would have been helped with legal advice, rather than medical.
So FREE EXPERT ADVICE , but creation of a record to monitor peoples requests/ story / perhaps suicide risk factors and safety factors
Do you think this service would be useful and popular? It would all be free and rely on people donating their expertise for free (anonymised).
It would all be on an anonymised database (which could be researched) , but data GDPR security would be essential.
Any thoughts?
I actually had Samaritans hang up on me because they are only really there to talk people "off the ledge" when they feel suicidal, and I didn't feel suicidal (yet at that point, I called because I'm a BPD survivor and I felt myself slipping back into red flag territory) but basically the call handler gave up on me because I felt so bad my mood hadn't improved in the 45 mins I was on the phone.So I've given up on using Samaritans tbh because if I feel bad to the degree that my problems can feel diminished after talking to a person who might as well a brick wall then frankly I don't consider my problems big enough to actually need to talk to people anymore after that poopshow of a call. Which is where that service fails people and people like me fall through the gaps.I only started feeling better that day after my partner came home and I was able to explain not only did I feel like crap but the call handler made it worse, and then my partner who could actually help me gave me a hug and made me feel less alone and comiserated how these services are actually "a bit s**t". Because that's what really helps people's mental health it's not some "hero" who talks a stranger of a ledge just that one time, it is the people who put in the daily support.
You are free to take this info and anonymise it if it helps your research.Sorry when asked for opinions it takes me a while to really consider and get back to people but I do like to help if I can and your mention of Samaritans reminded me of that event.
Sam likes to draw,
I'm so sorry you had this experience but am glad your partner was there for you. They sound like an awesome person to have in your life. :-)
I've found samaritans helped me out of many dark times because they don't know me and I can say exactly how I am feeling. I am always able to articulate how I am feeling and knowing someone is listening within itself helps me. I don't have a partner to lean on so I use the service in particularly lonesome times. Luckily I've been in a much better place since changing my diet so haven't phoned much at all.
I think samaritans are useful depending on what your needs are and how well you are able to communicate in that moment.