The Samaritans - are they a good service?

[KittyGlitter]

What are people's experiences with calling The Samaritans? I find it a bit hit and miss, depending on who you talk to. One woman I spoke to sounded half asleep and I could hear her yawning. It was like talking to a brick wall...on another occasion the woman I spoke to was excellent.

[freak_unique]

Well i spoke to the samaritans over email as i hate phones and i seriously felt like i was talking to a robot...a robot that thought i was going to kill myself at that jeez i only wanted a bit of advice!!!

[nicnic]

I've never called myself, but know quite a bit about the Samaritans. Although they're all trained the same, there will be natural variations in the sort of response you get due to the fact all volunteers are 'human'. If you call at night, the volunteer may have been on duty for many hours, hence the yawning!

For some people they are a lifeline, others feel disappointed with their response. However, they are practically the only helpline that is 24/7...which is very necessary in today's society where people feel increasingly isolated.

freak_unique - unfortnately, as stated on their website, Samaritans aren't really there to give advice, just emotional support, and suicide is a focus of their work.

[lushrhian]

my mam was a smaritan, before she trained to be a social worker.

[sugarcult]

i think the samaritins are really good. its one of the only good phone service for anyone who has a problem, not just kids. ive never called them , but i know people who have and they said that it was really good. anyway, i really wanted to tell everyone about these dogtags you can buy on the internet, where kerrang! have teamed up with samaritins to raise money for them with there rock for life campain, and the dogtags you get on there are really good, and the money all goea to a good cause! go to www.samaritins.org/kerrang
<3
(ps, hope that link works, but i mite have done something stupid like spelt samariins wrong. if i have just put the right spelling in its place! ;-)