Can I get some advice please. So I've been given the "crisis line" number god knows how many times, and told to phone them when needed. Lol - cause when you hit a crisis, the last thing you want to do is actively ask for help.
But anyway. No one has ever actually said like how to use it/ when to use it/ what to get from it. I tried once when dissociating and sitting with pills in front of me. But cause I was dissociating I don't think I was making sense. After 2 minutes on the phone I was just told to go to a and e. Again lol - as if I was actually capable of getting myself there, even if I wanted to!
But things are not great right now, and I think I'm going to need some extra help pretty soon. My psychologist is away for the holidays. Long story short, I have to call crisis team if I'm struggling too much. And how I'm feeling, I can't do this alone for any longer.
But what are people experiences? What happens when you call? What do you need to say? What can they actually do?
I've had both good and bad experiences with crisis. The last time I was in contact with them they listened and tried to reassure me. They did do the usual distractions suggestions that don't always help, but they did listen. I contacted them when I didn't feel safe, or when the thoughts and feelings I was having became too unbearable.
It sounds like you need extra support, so contacting them is an option that you should consider if you are struggling.
I know with crisis it's always scary because you don't know who you will speak to, but you may just get to talk to someone really helpful.
I never knew when was the right time to call them, but when I had the crisis team round last I asked them and they said if I felt like I couldn't cope and needed to talk to someone. And that you don't have to be suicidal or about to harm before you phone.
Obviously it is a bit hit and miss with who picks up the phone whether they will be helpful or not. Some may just do the whole distractions thing with you, whilst you may get someone who will listen to whats going on. They will obviously advise A&E if they think that is what is needed, or send out emergency services if you are in danger. But they can set up for the crisis team to come out and assess you, if they think you need some intense support in the community.
It can be quite difficult to know how to start off the conversation. I normally just start off by saying "I'm really struggling is there someone I can talk to" and they usually say something from there like ask for your name so they can get your notes up.
It might actually be helpful for you to have a think about what support you would like from them.
I hope the call goes okay xx
'Cause I'll always remember you the same.
Oh eyes like wild flowers within demons of change ♥
When your psychologist comes back it might be worth seeing if you can both come up with a plan to make this feel a little less stressful in future?
I can relate a lot - my experience is slightly different as I did used to be able to do it - I just can't now (even though it did used to be helpful). A nurse at my CMHT said it would be worth putting together a little bit of info that was written by/personal to me that would be the first thing to come up on the system/my notes if I called the crisis team, so they could be aware of things that were most important or might be obstacles.
I know not all crisis services work the same but if yours does (ie they had access to a file of some sort about their clients) this might be with considering.
Another idea, which is one of mine and I've got no idea if it'd be allowed or not, is what if you were able to ring them just once, fairly briefly when you're not in crisis to get a 'feel' for it? Ideally it could even be an appointed time so they were expecting you.
You and your psychologist might also find it helpful to think about what sorts of times you might objectively need to call them (I appreciate it's not always very concrete). Sometimes it's kind of tempting to minimise your stuff when you're in crisis, it's only when you're feeling calmer that you can look back and say "actually yeah I could have done with calling them".
I don't know, just throwing out some ideas :)
My experiences of calling local crisis lines/the crisis team have been generally very positive.
Hey,
Again thanks for replying.
I've not been able to call them yet.
We have in the past come up with a short little thing for me to stay when I call to get it started, but even then I just never know what help I would find useful. Like genuinely what I usually need is someone who knows me that will just be beside me and tell me that I'm safe. And I know thats not something that can be done, so I end up not seeing the point in calling them. And the time I did call, she seemed like she couldn't care any less, it felt like she didn't try to understand what was happening at that point so just said to go to a and e. But I thought the whole point in calling them was to be able to get the support so that I didn't need to go to a and e.
But thats probably just me expecting too much.
Hey,
No I've not called. It feels like asking for help right now goes against all I'm feeling. If I want to hurt myself etc by calling them just means i won't be able to. And i don't want to come away having tried to call, but then just feeling even worse about myself as I often find after trying to get any form of help from the NHS.
Sorry. Im being **** and negative. Thanks for trying to look out for me
