In social advertising on TV and in newspapers, so-called "emergency psychological help numbers", "hotlines" are often mentioned. Their task is to help those who feel forced into a situation, from which, it seems, there is absolutely no way out. But not everyone can vent their soul, speak out and do it absolutely anonymously. What's the matter? Are "help phones" effective, or is there no point in ringing for help?
For whom it is necessary?
Of course, the main use of such help is not just to pour out your soul, talk out and do it absolutely anonymously, but to remove the situation of extreme stress. When a person decides whether to live or die, such a phone is at hand.
In some cases, we do not notice how we "drive" ourselves into the problem, aggravate it. At some point, there simply is not enough moral and spiritual strength to make another leap and get out of the darkness. It is for such cases that the so-called helplines are designed.
Another question is whether the dispatchers (by assumption - professional psychologists) can help the caller . After all, he does not just need to pour out his soul, speak out and do it absolutely anonymously - he needs qualified help.
Sometimes, from one or two words of the person who takes the call of a potential suicide (if you really call a spade a spade) it depends, will the person live, or not. It's a hard, exhausting job. This is a kind of walking along the edge, on the very edge. A little more - and a man will fall. And you need to sympathize with him at the same time, and give a good kick so that he finds the strength to live, fight, cope.
The existence of such social services is evidence of the country's well-being and sufficient concern for people.
The history of "hotlines"
Most often an adult is left to himself. Colleagues at work gladly discuss the new series and relish the details of their friends' problems. Relatives tend to teach, control, and not to delve into the situation and help. Human thoughts can lead very far - especially when he alone with himself over and over again "scrolls" his situation.
It turns out that there was one priest in New York, Harry Warren, who was the first to think of giving people the opportunity to pour out his soul, to speak out and do it absolutely anonymously. He was awakened at night by a telephone call - a stranger begged for a meeting. But the Protestant pastor replied that the church opens in the morning. The next morning the priest learned that the caller had finished his life. The stunned priest immediately announced: "Before deciding to die, call me at any time of the day."
The telephone "relay race" passed slowly - only in the mid-50's. in England, another priest created such a service.
Conditions for the existence of a "trust service"
Now there are a lot of hotlines. As a rule, they are specialized - they propose to pour out one's soul on one number, to talk out and do it absolutely anonymously to teenagers, on others - to victims of violence, and so on.
But the basic principles of the existence of the "helpline" are unchanged.
First, consultants work - both professional psychologists and volunteers who have undergone serious training.
Secondly, there are several rules :
- anonymity (both subscriber and consultant),
- confidentiality of treatment,
- tolerance (uncriticality, absence of condemnation),
- the ability to control the conversation - it can be interrupted by both the subscriber and the counselor.
Security of the "helpline"
Making a call anonymous is a must. You do not need to identify yourself, as well as transfer personal data. Suitable and aliases, and nicknames. And the phone number, despite the modern technology of caller ID, is not fixed. This requirement is not so much comfort as security.
The content of the conversation is not allowed to be recorded in any way or to transmit information to a third party - even the age or category of the problem under discussion.
One of the main postulates of the "hotline" is some kind of conformism, tolerance, uncriticality. The consultant has no right to criticize and negatively assess the views of the subscriber. Oddly enough, this already makes it possible to work more efficiently with the problem.
Who works on the "hotline"?
In the press, there sometimes appear materials that disprove the effectiveness of hotlines. They say, they answered it wrongly. Let us recall the rule by which the content of the conversation can not be passed on to third parties. And at the same time we discuss here about what.
Sometimes it's easier for us to communicate with a fellow traveler in an electric train, minibus, bus, than with our relatives. With an independent person who can express (and maybe keep with him) his opinion, it's easier to talk. We are not dependent on him, and he is from us, too. And if someone wants to judge the effectiveness of the "correctness" of anonymous communication - first let him try to describe the correctness of conception and try to comment on what is happening between a loving couple.
Who knows what exactly can become a "trigger" in a conversation between two - a consultant and dissatisfied with the life of a person? This is not known by any of the participants in the conversation, let alone outside observers. So, to try to interfere with this process is useless and meaningless.
Examples of hotlines in Russia
- helplines of HIV / AIDS (Moscow);
- telephone hotline for homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals (Moscow);
- psychological helpline (Moscow);
and others.