[Urban Cragou]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

I think it would be imo valuable for The Samaritans to make it that the caller has to at least give their name, so that they have a better chance of tracking the caller, if the caller is trying to kill themselves.

The caller can easily give a fake name, and in fairness that’s just fine, too.

Like I said, they believe in self-determination so because of that they can’t track you down even if they really want to unless you want them to. The only time they really have to step in and try and get support from an external body is when there’s a safeguarding risk involving a minor or a particularly vulnerable adult. Otherwise it’s just their policy to respect even the decision of a caller to take their own life, even if they were able to track you down. You’d have to tell them you wanted an ambulance calling for you (or something) if you did want help but, again, you’d have to give them the details. But the whole point of Samaritans is that it’s a completely anonymous sounding board there for when you need it so they couldn’t force you to give your name/real name in any case. So you really can’t be identified if you don’t want to be found. That’s part of their ethos.

[Merry Mockmas]

Originally Posted by Redway

The caller can easily give a fake name, and in fairness that’s just fine, too.

Like I said, they believe in self-determination so because of that they can’t track you down even if they really want to unless you want them to. The only time they really have to step in and try and get support from an external body is when there’s a safeguarding risk involving a minor or a particularly vulnerable adult. Otherwise it’s just their policy to respect even the decision of a caller to take their own life, even if they were able to track you down. You’d have to tell them you wanted an ambulance calling for you (or something) if you did want help but, again, you’d have to give them the details. But the whole point of Samaritans is that it’s a completely anonymous sounding board there for when you need it so they couldn’t force you to give your name/real name in any case. So you really can’t be identified if you don’t want to be found. That’s part of their ethos.

Fair enough, I suppose that particular policy does help them attract more people wanting to use their service.

[Urban Cragou]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

Fair enough, I suppose that particular policy does help them attract more people wanting to use their service.

Yeah, I suppose. It’s just a policy they have. The extent to-which I agree with their self-determination policy I don’t know but ultimately if someone’s feeling suicidal (with a relatively clear mind, not as a result of, say, psychotic depression), I’d put more faith in Samaritans than a helpline like Shout (85258) if I was to sign-post someone. That Shout text-line is terrible.