Comment by ahelwer

My impression of these services are that they are simply available so people can feel they have "done something" about someone who seems suicidal by giving them the number, then wash their hands of the rest of it. Not that someone else's mental health puts any particular obligation on you, but that's the dynamic I see play out. I've called these services twice over the years when I was young and naive and had friends I was worried about, and their entire objective is to trick you into giving them details so they can sic the police on these people and ruin their lives with an involuntary hold in the psych ward. One of the calls was more of an advice call, as in I (then 16 years old) was trying to ask them what I should do, and when I refused to give them the person's address the person on the line straight up asked me "what do you want me to do?" I don't know! I was a scared 16 year old kid and you're supposed to be the one who knows that! What is the point of you answering the phone!