Samaritans?

[surviver15]

Who and what are they?

[Bellatrix]

They are a goup of volunteers trained to support people in problems they face in their lives, and difficult and frightening emotions they may experience.

www.samaritans.org

[whirlpools]

They are a charity in the UK that help support people who are suicidal and/or in a mental health crisis. They do this mainly through their 24-hour phone support line, but also through an e-mail service and some areas do a face-to-face drop-in service as well.

Some people from the charity also go round schools to make children aware of the service and educate them on mental health.

I believe it was founded by a man who was horrified to hear in the news about a young girl who'd committed suicide because her periods started and she didn't know what they were. He felt that it was important for anyone of any age to be able to reach out for totally confidential support.

[surviver15]

Do they help people in the US as well?

[surviver15]

http://samaritanshope.org/ - is this one too?

[whirlpools]

Looks like one to me, kitten. Thinking about giving them a ring?

[surviver15]

Yeah, I kind of need some help.

[Confused_Reality]

Samaritans are best contacted by email if you are outside of the UK. They dont necassarily offer advice but do listen and care. jo@samaritans.org I do believe.

[TEAPARTY]

The email service works best if you give them a lot of detail to start with, it can take up to 24 hours for them to reply to perhaps if you live in the US it might be worth finding some US based support if you need it urgently.
Best of luck hun :)

[surviver15]

http://samaritanshope.org/ - these are in the USA would that work to call them?

[Soviette]

Well, as it's been described, the Sams are a charity and organisation ran by volunteers to help those in great emotional distress. They are 100% confidential, so they won't call the police (etc) on you if you say you're committing suicide because they believe in the right to choose. I think they only break confidentiality if you are a risk to other people.. I'm not even sure of that.

I've never called them, but I've emailed them (jo@samaritans.org) and if you want my honest opinion, they weren't overly helpful. They asked questions at first, stuff like "what makes you feel this way?" but as the conversations go, they try to kill it off, and end on the usual note that "I hope you feel well now, you should contact your GP". Two of my friends have used the email service, and felt the same way.

I once rang Childline when I was 17, and I got all shy when the man answered, and then he just said "call back when you're ready to speak" and hung-up, which wasn't overly helpful. I've heard that NHS Direct (0845 4647) are helpful for crisises because trained nurses speak to you.. but being the NHS, they're bound by the same confidentiality laws as doctors and counsellors etc, so they will probably call an ambulance and the police on you if you they believe you're a risk to yourself or others.

EDIT:
Just realised you're from the U.S.
I'm not sure if you can ring the Sams over there or not, although you can certainly email them, but I know there's a national suicide hotline there.. the number is:
1-800-SUICIDE if I'm not wrong..

That's the only one I know. I have no clue about their confidentiality rules, though I've heard that it's the law in the US or something that they call the emergency services on you if you're a risk to yourself/others.

[riotgrrrlcori]

I know I'm a few days late here, but here's a list of crisis lines for your state. Hopefully one of them can help if you haven't gotten a chance to speak with someone.

http://www.findcounseling.com/help/hotlines/texas.html