Debunking Misconceptions About Crisis Hotlines
Written by an Anonymous Contributor
Feeling connected with family, friends and our community can decrease anxiety and depression, help regulate emotions and improve quality of life [1]. The need for human interaction is always crucial, however, it is especially important while we are in the midst of a global pandemic, even if it doesn’t come in a traditional, physical form. Pre-COVID, meeting up with friends and family made it easier to support someone experiencing a mental health crisis, but now, physical contact is discouraged – making feelings of loneliness and social isolation at an all-time high [2]. Our community has been experiencing total social disconnection for over a year with continuous changing of social restrictions giving people no choice but to ignore their need to be with others at the expense of potentially harming their own mental wellbeing.
I began working as a crisis line responder in June 2020, after my local crisis center reported a record-breaking, and continuously steady, number of callers since the start of the pandemic. I am one of 210 crisis line responders that assisted in answering a total of 60,862 calls received at the center in 2020 alone. I chose to become a crisis line worker to have the opportunity to speak with a diverse group of individuals in my community and alleviate their feelings of loneliness – even if just for a few minutes.
This crisis line is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and is available to all Ottawa and Northwest Territories residents. It is often one of the first points of contact for someone experiencing a serious mental health crisis, including emotional crises, severe depression or anxiety, or suicide ideations. As a crisis line responder, I am trained to examine the caller’s current situation, develop a plan of action for safety and, if needed, make direct transfers to local support services and resources.
Before volunteering as a crisis line responder, I had numerous misconceptions and beliefs about this line of work. I believed every phone call would have someone on the other side experiencing intense suicide ideation and that I’d be using my de-escalation skills every shift. These ideas stemmed from stereotypes seen in movies or TV shows that falsely portray people with mental illnesses as always experiencing thoughts of suicide. This narrative is far from the truth because many people with mental illness are not affected by suicidal thoughts and not all people who have thoughts of suicide have a mental illness. Additionally, after having conversations with my friends and family about my role as a crisis line responder, I realized there are five common misconceptions to be debunked surrounding both crisis line users and crisis line responders that I would like to address as they often discourage people from using our service.
Debunking Common Misconceptions about using a crisis line:
#1 “If I mention I am feeling suicidal, they will call the police”
We try to minimize our contact with the police as much as possible. When a caller discloses that they are feeling suicidal, the first thing we do is try to ensure the caller can stay safe for the duration of our call. This includes safety planning and giving the individual the space to share their story should they choose to. We try to gain a better understanding of the situation and see if we can de-escalate their crisis without emergency service involvement. If following our conversation, the individual is still having strong thoughts of suicide, we contact the police to check in on the individual. It is not often that the police are used in our services as most callers that begin a call with a discussion of suicidal thoughts will often end the call with a safety plan in motion.
#2 “If I call, I need to talk about my mental health history and/or what I am struggling with”
The caller is in complete control the direction of the call. If a caller only wants to talk about work, a fight with their friend, a new hobby they picked up or even tell us about their pets, then that is what the conversation will be about. A responder may explore the reason that pushed the caller to reach out, but if the caller does not want to disclose any personal information, then the responder will not ask them to. The only exception to this is if the caller’s safety is suggested to be at risk, in which case the responder will explore the situation further to get more details about what the caller may be struggling with. As a responder, we are there to listen and talk about the topics the caller wants to talk about.
#3 “I must be experiencing a crisis to reach out”
Although crisis line responders are trained to help anyone that is experiencing a mental health crisis, such as suicidal ideation, domestic violence, self-harm, bereavement and/or discrimination, you do not need to be in a crisis to use our services. In my own experience, I often receive calls from people looking for simple support such as a place to vent about a bad day at work, expressing their feelings of worry of failing an upcoming exam or feeling overwhelmed and wanting to do some grounding exercises. Despite being labelled a “crisis line”, the term “crisis” is used to encourage anyone in urgent need to reach out for help, but it does not limit the use of our services to crisis calls alone.
#4 Every call will be from someone who is actively feeling suicidal
Every shift is different. On some shifts, when call volume is low, I might have a few short phone calls with callers simply wanting to have a conversation about the weather or their favourite TV show. Callers may use our services to get information on different local supports such as shelters, counselling services, housing support, victims services and addiction treatment centres. These conversations may last only a few minutes and can be very straightforward. Whereas on other shifts, I may have a caller who is actively in crisis and requires more support. These calls often focus on de-escalating the crisis, exploring the caller’s situation, and developing steps to a safety plan for the caller to do while we wait for either EMS or the mobile crisis team.
#5 Crisis Line Responders use a generic script for all calls
“Distress line how are you today?” is the only script I follow as a responder. Every call is different and therefore a generic script will not be useful. While some situations may require a responder to ask a pre-determined set of questions, these are questions that help the responder get a quick idea of the level of support this caller needs. Nonetheless, there is no script that will be useful since each call is led by the person calling in. Additionally, all crisis line responders receive over 60 hours of extensive training and attend a 3-day workshop to become ASIST certified. These trainings include role-playing scenarios of different conversations to anticipate. This practice allows for the crisis line responder to gain experience in certain topics before they get on the phone to allow these conversations to flow more easily, without the need of a script.
I have been a crisis line responder for over one year, taking over 400 calls, and yet, I still meet the start of each shift with anxiety and intimidation. However, despite this, I always finish my shift feeling grateful to give someone in my community the space to feel validated and heard and happy I was there to pick up the phone. Although you might receive the proper training and education on how to be an effective crisis line responder, the reality is that you will never be able to predict who will be on the line and what level of support they will need until you pick up the phone. While the crisis line does not replace professional help, the support it provides the community members can be used as a steppingstone for individuals to get connected, feel heard and understand that they are not alone.
In need of support? There is always someone to listen:
Ottawa Distress Centre: (613) 238-3311
Mental Health Crisis Line: (613) 722-6914
Tel-Aide Outaouais: (613) 741-6433 (Ottawa) or (819) 775-3223 (Gatineau)
If you live outside the Ottawa area, your region may offer similar services. Please reach out if you need someone to lean on.
It's no secret that call volume can change each year and our need for volunteers remains high. If becoming a part of the Distress Centre of Ottawa & Region team is something that interests you, please visit: https://www.dcottawa.on.ca/volunteer-application/ for more information on next steps you can take to become a volunteer!
References:
[1] Usher, K., Bhullar, N. & Jackson, D. (2020), Life in the pandemic: Social isolation and mental health. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29: 2756-2757. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15290
[2] Banerjee, D., & Rai, M. (2020). Social isolation in Covid-19: The impact of loneliness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(6), 525–527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020922269