[Redway]

I’ve kind of changed my mind about Shout. They do a cracking job with what they can a good chunk of the time and sometimes it’s just easier being able to talk to someone who doesn’t already know them, people find. I guess it’ll depend on what you need exactly. I have a lot of low-key qualms with them but some volunteers are more helpful than others. And the ones who are helpful can give good advice to people. Especially ones who aren’t in crisis and just need to sit through things with someone on the other end who’s a bit more impersonal. How seriously they actually take confidentiality I don’t know but they don’t know the people they talk to and vice-versa so that just adds a layer of anonymity that can’t be taken away or violated by some gossip.

There are people who have worked for the NHS who have breached confidentiality in other spaces so it’s not a guarantee that anyone’s going to take your privacy as seriously as you’d want them to but with Shout being the way it is by its very nature that just give people texting in a bit of protection, and that can make it easier to put a bit of trust in them for a minute. I definitely wouldn’t be quick to recommend it for someone who’s in more acute crisis (that’s part of the thing) but if you need to clock in every now and then just to talk about stuff, that’s perfectly allowed.

Some people get met with a brick wall if they text in more than just the once or twice a week for a while by an automated text that basically tells people to go away, reflect even more and call 999 if they’re in an emergency though and that can put people off and discourage them. It can take a lot of courage to text in in the first place so when you’re told that they’re not actually there for people 24/7 in the way they say they are, that can do people damage and increase anxiety.

It’s good to have a bit more of a realistic understanding and awareness of da peeps you gonna talk to so it helps to show a bit of that rather than going strictly by the generic script. You don’t do that and expect everyone to feel comfortable or that they’re actually, genuinely being listened to. You might not be fully in the loop but there’s a way to get in it to the extent that’s necessary to make someone feel genuinely heard.