Suicide Hotline Manager
CantSay, US
Female, 0
I supervise and train telephone operators for a suicide hotline. In addition to answering phones myself, I am also available when questions about protocol come up or if a phone operator is having trouble dealing with the emotions being expressed by a caller. Like many non-profits, we are now in danger of being shut down because of budget cuts.
It’s impossible not to become emotionally invested in some callers, but it only makes you want to stay longer. When you hear the sadness in someone’s voice, it makes it hard not to give more and more. You start to see how it affects your outside life, the patience you find for people you would normally ignore, the sympathy you feel for the tragedies you would have previously done your best to overlook. Over time you learn to deal with the emotions that come from listening to sadness all day long. You compartmentalize it so that you can go home and still have a good night and so that you don’t bring your emotions onto a call. The call should always be about what the caller is going through, not what you’re dealing with.
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Our preventative nature often comes out in that callers reach out to us before reaching a high-risk mindset. They use us to blow off steam, to find someone who cares, to get a referral for a mental health professional. We certainly have callers who express suicidal thoughts or seem in imminent danger, but we are also very open to callers who simply need to have a conversation about the stresses and heartaches they are experiencing.
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We will do our best to emotionally support the caller, to help them not feel alone. We will even offer to call an ambulance if there is a potential emergency. We will not stay on the phone, though, if it seems the callers is in the process of hurting themselves. It is important that callers understand that we are not there to listen to them kill themselves, but rather give them every chance to talk about their emotions and connect with a human being during a terrible time.
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We have local and state funding as well as private donors. Honestly, I don't know much about that part of our organization.
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Are you allowed to hang up on a caller if they're being very rude?
Our service is completely anonymous for both the callers and the operators. Callers should feel they can speak to any operator and receive the same level of service. We do our best to be emotionally supportive of callers without forming individual bonds.
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Honestly, I don't know about that beyond anecdotal evidence.
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It isn't necessarily to be able to relate to a caller to provide emotional support. In fact it's better if you can listen from an objective standpoint. It can be difficult to keep focused on the person you're speaking with if your own stuff is coming up.
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