Quote:
Originally Posted by Marine1974
I disagree , people won’t seek help . There are many resources, the VA for example , every time I call the recording asks if you’re feeling suicidal press a certain number. When I am there for any treatment they ask if you’re suicidal.
Our healthcare system has a wealth of resource that you don’t know about apparently.
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True words. Unfortunately people often don't think clearly in times of extreme stress.
Back in the day, oncall was assigned at our agency on a sign-up basis. Each person was responsible for a certain number of oncall weekends and holidays per year: it was always good to get your hands on the signup sheet early, or else you'd end up with Christmas or New Year's (always worse if they were part of a three-day weekend). Happened to me a few times. Christmas was always the worst, followed closely by New Year's and the accompanying problems that too much alcohol always seem to exacerbate. There were always calls that were borderline; often it was hard to tell the difference. We evaluated on the means-motive-opportunity criteria; if all three were present you had a legitimate emergency and we reacted accordingly. Talked a guy down from hanging himself once; Christmas and he was in the midst of a messy divorce. He had the rope and was on his way to the garage to do himself in. Fortunately someone in the home had the presence of mind to call the County CEP number; after a moderately long chat with the guy he agreed to hold off and to cooperate with the authorities who I dispatched immediately to his address. He ended up OK.
Unfortunately not all people are lucky enough to have a caring friend or family member to intervene. Often that is the only thing between a recovery (or at least an improvement in quality of life) and becoming a tragic statistic.