Callers’ Experiences of Contacting a National Suicide Prevention Helpline

Background: Helplines are a significant phenomenon in the mixed economy of health and social care. Given the often anonymous and fleeting nature of caller contact, it is difficult to obtain data about their impact and how users perceive their value. This paper reports findings from an online survey of callers contacting Samaritans emotional support services. Aims: To explore the (self-reported) characteristics of callers using a national suicide prevention helpline and their reasons given for contacting the service, and to present the users’ evaluations of the service they received. Methods: Online survey of a self-selected sample of callers. Results: 1,309 responses were received between May 2008 and May 2009. There were high incidences of expressed suicidality and mental health issues. Regular and ongoing use of the service was common. Respondents used the service for complex and varied reasons and often as part of a network of support. Conclusions: Respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with the service and perceived contact to be helpful. Although Samaritans aims to provide a crisis service, many callers do not access this in isolation or as a last resort, instead contacting the organization selectively and often in tandem with other types of support.

[1]  T. Holding.  The B.B.C. ‘Befrienders’ Series and its Effects , 1974, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[2]  L. Bickman,et al.  Telephone counselling for adolescent suicide prevention: changes in suicidality and mental state from beginning to end of a counselling session. , 2003, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[3]  Danuta Wasserman,et al.  Effectiveness of brief intervention and contact for suicide attempters: a randomized controlled trial in five countries. , 2008, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[4]  T. Heeren,et al.  Who uses the Smoker's Quitline in Massachusetts? , 2002, Tobacco control.

[5]  Matthew K Nock,et al.  Suicide and suicidal behavior. , 2008, Epidemiologic reviews.

[6]  A. Bagnall,et al.  Low-level support for socially isolated older people: An evaluation of telephone befriending , 2008 .

[7]  B. Mishara,et al.  Effects of Different Telephone Intervention Styles with Suicidal Callers at Two Suicide Prevention Centers: An Empirical Investigation , 1997, American journal of community psychology.

[8]  P. Bower,et al.  Effects of befriending on depressive symptoms and distress: systematic review and meta-analysis , 2010, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[9]  M. Sharpe,et al.  Psychological autopsy studies of suicide: a systematic review , 2003, Psychological Medicine.

[10]  B. Birmaher,et al.  The American Association of Suicidology Suicidality and Its Relationship to Treatment Outcome in Depressed Adolescents , 2004 .

[11]  A. Leenaars,et al.  The impact of suicide prevention centers on the suicide rate in the Canadian provinces. , 2004, Crisis.

[12]  W. Fakhoury.  Suicidal Callers to a National Helpline in the UK: A Comparison of Depressive and Psychotic Sufferers , 2002 .

[13]  R. Wetta-Hall,et al.  Help on the Line , 2005, Evaluation & the health professions.

[14]  M. Leitner,et al.  Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour : A Systematic , 2007 .

[15]  D. Carson,et al.  Suicide prevention: A study of patients' views , 2003, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[16]  D. Gunnell,et al.  Prevention of suicide: aspirations and evidence , 1994, BMJ.

[17]  B. Mishara,et al.  Which helper behaviors and intervention styles are related to better short-term outcomes in telephone crisis intervention? Results from a Silent Monitoring Study of Calls to the U.S. 1-800-SUICIDE Network. , 2007, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[18]  Ian Alexander,et al.  An introduction to qualitative research , 2000, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[19]  R. Fukkink,et al.  Children's experiences with chat support and telephone support. , 2009, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[20]  J. Lonnqvist,et al.  Suicide prevention strategies: a systematic review. , 2005, JAMA.

[21]  Suicide reduction: policy context , 2000 .

[22]  D. Thompson,et al.  Nightline—a student self-help organisation , 1974 .

[23]  J. Leeper,et al.  An analysis of the effects of suicide prevention facilities on suicide rates in the United States. , 1984, American journal of public health.

[24]  D. Duffy,et al.  The National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England , 2003 .

[25]  Paul Shekelle,et al.  Nurse-led telephone-advice lines , 1999, The Lancet.

[26]  M. Potenza,et al.  Gender-related differences in the characteristics of problem gamblers using a gambling helpline. , 2001, The American journal of psychiatry.

[27]  L. Appleby,et al.  Suicide within 12 months of contact with mental health services: national clinical survey , 1999, BMJ.

[28]  D. de Leo,et al.  Suicide among the elderly: The long-term impact of a telephone support and assessment intervention in northern Italy , 2002, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[29]  D. Murthy.  Digital Ethnography , 2008 .

[30]  M. Evans,et al.  Crisis telephone consultation for deliberate self-harm patients: How the study groups used the telephone and usual health-care services , 2000 .

[31]  Chiaki Itoh,et al.  Where Is the Σb , 1992 .

[32]  G. Fairbairn.  Contemplating Suicide: The Language and Ethics of Self-Harm , 1995 .

[33]  I. Sigfusdottir,et al.  The spreading of suicidal behavior: The contextual effect of community household poverty on adolescent suicidal behavior and the mediating role of suicide suggestion. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[34]  C. Varah.  The Samaritans: Befriending the Suicidal , 1985 .

[35]  John Kalafat,et al.  An evaluation of crisis hotline outcomes. Part 1: Nonsuicidal crisis callers. , 2007, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.