Having lurked a bit at one of the ASH sites, I have to ask if what I read was true. Is it true that if you do call this line, the police will show up at your door to take you to the hospital???

I know some people who maybe would have considered calling this line when the suicidal urges do become overwhelming will no longer even consider it as a viable option for that reason. There was at least one person on the site who said they called and ended up in a mental hospital for 72 hours.

I am a college student who has been diagnosed with bipolar w/mixed states. I don’t hallucinate and am not a danger to anybody. I have experienced the fallout that can happen after being put in a hospital because you are either suicidal or have attempted. What bothers me the most is that, while the people volunteering on the line may have the best intentions, the person who is calling may just need to get those feelings out until they feel they can fall asleep and not act on the thoughts.

I certainly would not want to discourage ANYONE from calling the line if they are feeling suicidal. The only thing is if what the ASHERs say is true, the people working on the line need to take into consideration the potential aftermath of calling the cops to have someone put in the hospital for their suicidal thoughts and feelings.

The point I am trying to make is that sometimes people just need someone to talk to about their thoughts and feelings. AND EVEN if that person calling may have been planning to attempt that night and even admitted that to the volunteer, keep in mind that after talking, they may feel better enough for that moment to make it through the night. To have someone hospitalized…do you know what that is like?

Many people leave the hospital in worse shape than when they went in to the hospital. As a student, I lost my job after missing work. That made it impossible to pay the rent on time not to mention othet bills. And to add insult to injury, I acquired a new expense because unless you end up in a hellish state hospital, you are going to have to pay your hospital bill, too. Trust me, this doesn’t help when you are feeling depressed or suicidal.

Please don’t take this reply as argumentative. And if someone is feeling suicidal and thinking of calling, please don’t NOT call because of what I have written. My whole purpose is: 1.) to find out if what I read is true. I am asking you because I feel I can trust what you say. 2.) If what I read is true, I am hoping someone can change the way it works so people will feel comfortable with calling when they are in a suicidal state.

Thanks.

~ the happy phantom

I would strongly advise agaist most suicide hotlines for the simple fact that the volenteers on the other line are VERY quick to alert the authorities. I have borderline personality disorder (BPD) and CAN be considered a threat under the right (or wrong) circumstances. I am also a cutter, and therefore an easy target, especially when I have a small cut on my arm. Many law enforcement officials confuse a cut for the purpose of stress relief, with a cut for ending ones life, and therefore follow the manual, including, arrest, getting tasered, involentary hospital stays, and, in exteme cases, shooting the poor suicidal person who would have been okay just talking to someone with an open hear and a kind heart instead of some panic-button-happy person who thinks that every call is a major emergency.

This is true. My husband called this line and ended up in jail. The police were at the door before he even got off the phone. No questions asked, just “turn around and put your hands on your head” and cuffed. He never got ANY mental health assistance, and has been in jail for a month now. This is not what a hotline is for.

This is true.

I have been diagnosed with severe depression which only gets severe under certain circumstances, and I too am a college student. I had called this hot line after a particularly rough night when i found myself having only the smallest thought of going through with the act of suicide, and deciding it would be best to just talk to someone who might be able to calm me down.

The man on the phone first asked what was wrong and after a few words he began asking for my information. I really needed to talk and get stuff out but he kept asking for my address. I gave it to him trying to hurry up through what I assumed might have been for their records, seeing as how I had never called a number like this before.

Soon enough there was a knock at my door, and there was a police officer. I asked the man on the phone what was going on and he told me to hang up and let the officer in. By that point I was now embarrassed that this had escalated to this point as I only wanted to just talk to a sort of counselor.

Luckily the officer was a nice gentleman who could tell i was simply frazzled by a bad night and stayed a while to talk and just make sure I was okay. I appreciated his attitude but still the whole time I felt embarrassed telling this man my “problems” which by this point I had gotten over and just wanted to be in bed. I’m also now embarrassed by the possibility of him waking my neighbors next door looking for our apartment, and what the outcome of the police report may have on the rest of my life.

In the end the officer suggested I seek therapy soon but did not feel I needed to be taken to a hospital (something the man at the hot line kept insisting i needed). The officer then gave my his office location saying I may stop in to check up with him in the future if necessary.

So to answer the question, yes, the hot line did send an officer over. However I do not discourage calling the hot line as I do not have a horror story about being committed over night for observation or the such. I in fact encourage calling the hot line if you feel suicidal or like even in my case just extremely down and needing some guidance.

I live in Canada, called this hot-line and asked to make sure it was anonymous. The woman I spoke with assured me it was. I told her about various thoughts and dreams I’d been having about suicide. I was only on the phone for about 5 minutes. I told her I felt better getting that off my chest, and I didn’t want to talk to my family about those thoughts and distress them, and it was the weekend so I couldn’t contact my therapist.

Police arrived at my door within an hour. Somehow, this centre traced my number and address, called the police in my area and informed them that I was going to commit suicide. I couldn’t believe it. I only gave her my first name.

I told the police I had no intention of killing myself, my husband was spoken to as well and backed me up, of course. The police left, but the whole situation was horrifying for me, someone suffering from severe clinical depression and anxiety disorders. Now I’m terrified that the police have me on some suicide watch list when all I wanted to do was talk to someone for a few minutes about how bad I felt.

Don’t call this line. They are trigger happy when it comes to sending the police. The cops told me the call center I had called was in Nebraska. They traced my number in Canada and sent the police after me. I’m so upset and I don’t trust anyone now. You can’t even call a hot-line for help without getting labeled.

There are lots of other places to call if you need to talk to someone. I highly recommend not calling here if you don’t want police involved. Maybe they’ve saved some lives by this method, but they’ve also screwed up a lot of others, including mine.

~Shocked

After reading through this article, I feel that I need more information on the topic. Could you share some resources please?