Resource Tag: HELPLINES

Objective In the United States, there was an increase in calls to helplines following media reporting of Robin Williams’ suicide. We aimed to determine whether this was the case in Australia. Method The helpline services Lifeline and Beyond Blue provided us with weekly data on calls received for 2013–2015. We conducted interrupted time series regression […]

Objective As part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s crisis response system, the Lifeline Crisis Chat Network (LCC) answers chats from hundreds of thousands of at-risk individuals yearly. The study’s objective was to assess the effectiveness of these online crisis interventions. Method Data from 39,911 pre-chat surveys and 13,130 linked pre- and post-chat surveys completed by […]

Objective To assist suicidal individuals, people in their social network are often directed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline). The study’s objective was to provide information on third-party calls made out of concern for another person. Method Reports on 172 third-party calls concerning individuals deemed to be at imminent suicide risk were completed by […]

Background Empirical research on best practices in suicide prevention text intervention is scarce. We present analyses of exchanges concerning suicide on the Canadian Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS) text helpline. Objective To describe the users of the CSPS text service, explore the perceived impact of the service, and identify intervention characteristics associated with a greater likelihood […]

Background: Youth suicide is a major international concern and prevention is a priority. In most cases suicidal behavior would be preceded by a period of suicidal ideation. Although feeling suicidal is recognized as a risk factor for suicide, there is little research which captures young people’s own experience of suicidality in a moment of crisis. Aims: This […]

Objective Text-based crisis services are increasingly prominent, with inclusion in the national 988 crisis number launching in 2022. Yet little is known about who uses them. This study seeks to understand the population served by Crisis Text Line (CTL), the largest crisis text service in the United States. Methods Secondary data analysis was conducted on […]

Mental health is an important component of public health, especially in times of crisis. However, monitoring public mental health is difficult because data are often patchy and low-frequency. Here we complement established approaches by using data from helplines, which offer a real-time measure of ‘revealed’ distress and mental health concerns across a range of topics. […]

Objectives During periods such as the COVID-19 crisis, there is a need for responsive public health surveillance indicators in order to monitor both the epidemic growth and potential public health consequences of preventative measures such as lockdown. We assessed whether the automatic classification of the content of calls to emergency medical communication centers could provide […]

Previous studies have reported an association between family relationships and suicidal behavior, and found that people with high suicidal ideation are not likely to consult with others about their distress. An effective consulting service is therefore necessary for such individuals. Crisis hotlines are effective for reducing suicide risk, but their associated suicide ideation rate and […]

Background: Search engines display helpline notices when people query for suicide-related information. Objective: In this study, we aimed to examine if these notices and other information displayed in response to suicide-related queries are correlated with subsequent searches for suicide prevention rather than harmful information. Methods: Anonymous suicide-related searches made on Bing and Google in the United States, the […]

Background: Empathic engagement with distressed others can lead to elevated symptoms of psychological distress and functional impairment, which preclude helping professionals’ delivery of optimal patient care. Whether telephone crisis support workers are impacted in a similar way is not currently reported in the literature. Aims: This study examined the relationship between functional impairment and intentions to use […]

Continuity of care for suicidal individuals engaged with a variety of health and mental health care systems has become a national priority, and crisis hotlines are increasingly playing a part in the risk management and continuum of care for these individuals. The current study evaluated a national initiative to have crisis centers in the National […]

Background: It is well known that helping professionals experience functional impairment related to elevated symptoms of psychological distress as a result of frequent empathic engagement with distressed others. Whether telephone crisis support workers are impacted in a similar way is not currently reported in the literature. Aims: The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model […]

Telephone helplines are considered to play an important role in preventing suicide and self-harm among callers in distress. However, inconsistency in the methods of evaluating such services has limited the firm conclusions that can be drawn. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of a UK-based helpline from a service user and helpline worker perspective. Method: Callers […]

Copy held in CSP Library.

Eleven young volunteers undergo some of the nation₂s most rigorous training to become volunteer counselors in a suicide hotline call center at Headquarters, a crisis center since the early 70’s, and legendary for its level of commitment through volunteer counseling. Learning how to listen with empathy and without judging proves harder and more taxing than […]

~

~