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Has anyone ever rung Samaritans?

Shardovan

I have, just once (so far). About three months ago. Never thought I would, until the last couple of years. I’d been carrying round their phone number flyer in my coat pocket for ages to the point it was, and remains, a frayed old reminder of a comforting ‘should you need us…’ I came very close to it again last night, which is why it’s in my mind. Instead I found some silly escapist distraction instead - often I can’t manage that when I’m too down/anxious/overwhelmed with lost causes but I was somehow able to flip that switch for a while - and I suspect I will again in the not to distant future. What an amazing service. When internal looping will no longer ‘help’, to speak it aloud someone, instantly (not waiting for a weekly appointment) and for a fluid duration really helps to no longer be a tree falling in the forest, just for a little while.

This place helps a lot too, of course! 

Anyone else ever called them? If you’re comfortable saying that is. 

Parents

  • I remember phoning when I was in my late teens. Not because I was feeling suicidal, but because something had happened that had really upset me, and I desperately needed to pour my heart out. It was late at night, during the early 90s when options were limited.

    What I can recall is being asked every few minutes, "And how do you feel now?" The truth was that I felt increasingly irritated at being asked that same question.

    There was another occasion when I had phoned, when I had been in my early thirties. The result was that I felt better for having done so. The person I spoke to just seemed to know the right things to say. Slight smile

  • in reply to Sporadic Sparkly

    Yes. The ‘suicidal’ thing. I wasn’t(although it often occurs to me that  some people feeling how I do, for less time than I have, would have already ended it - we’re all different) but like you said needed to put my heart out and, importantly, to a stranger. I made it clear at the outside I wasn’t a suicide risk (not at that point, who ever knows about the future) and if they felt I should clear the line or was wasting resources to tell me to put the phone down. They instead very nicely told me it’s not just for the suicidal but the distressed. Which I sort of already knew but still felt I had to almost apologise for not being the very worst case scenario. In other words for being such a lightweight that that night (and not something way more dramatic) was my breaking point. But they reassured me and the conversation helped. 

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  • in reply to Sporadic Sparkly

    Yes. The ‘suicidal’ thing. I wasn’t(although it often occurs to me that  some people feeling how I do, for less time than I have, would have already ended it - we’re all different) but like you said needed to put my heart out and, importantly, to a stranger. I made it clear at the outside I wasn’t a suicide risk (not at that point, who ever knows about the future) and if they felt I should clear the line or was wasting resources to tell me to put the phone down. They instead very nicely told me it’s not just for the suicidal but the distressed. Which I sort of already knew but still felt I had to almost apologise for not being the very worst case scenario. In other words for being such a lightweight that that night (and not something way more dramatic) was my breaking point. But they reassured me and the conversation helped. 

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