Samaritans and Suicide
In the UK there is a charitable organisation called Samaritans. The purpose of Samaritans is to be a point of contact for people to come and talk about their feelings. People can communicate face-to-face, by telephone, written letter, text message or e-mail. Anyone in the world can contact them. They offer a safe and non-judgmental space for people to talk about whatever might be troubling them, whether they are suicidal or not. The central premise of the organisation is that everyone suffers in life and has the right to self-determination, meaning that Samaritans do not try to talk people out of suicide, whilst everyone can benefit from talking to someone who is just there to listen, not give advice, about their feelings.
Samaritans is run by volunteers and has over two hundred branches throughout the UK and Ireland. Listening volunteers are asked to give up two hours a week and to do a night shift once a month, or just as much time as they can give, after an initial training program of six weekends and a probation period of a few months. Volunteers can take breaks or resign at any time. It can be hard to listen to someone tell you they are suicidal, just as it can be hard to tell someone you are suicidal, particularly if you know them. There are also many social taboos around the idea of suicide as many religions forbid it and it is illegal in many countries (it is only since 1961 that it was made legal in the UK). The Samaritans have also found that on many occasions people who carry out suicide have told, tried to tell or wanted to tell someone in their life that they feel suicidal. Many callers have said they do not feel able to speak to someone in their life about it for fear of judgment and only feel able to talk to someone they have never met and never will.
The consequence of this is that the charity is currently suffering from a shortage of volunteers and so some callers are receiving the engaged tone, finding no one can answer the door, or not receiving a reply for a couple of days, due to the increasing volume of contact. The reason for people ringing, e-mailing, knocking on the door of a branch or texting the Samaritans can include any facet of the human condition: helplessness, loneliness, a sudden crisis or a long-term difficulty, substance abuse and addiction, relationship problems, bereavement, physical illness or disability, rape, unmanageable debt or lack of welfare support, redundancy, meaningless and stressful work, depression, anxiety, gender and sexual identity, those suffering from abuse or bullying, addiction and abuse of social media, anorexia, family strife, a broken heart, divorce and mental illness ranging from mild melancholy or low-self worth to hearing voices and self-harm. The list could go on. Most callers suffer from a range of difficulties that life has thrown at them. Some callers have suicidal thoughts, a plan to carry through or are actively carrying out their suicide and don’t wish to be alone during their last moments of life. But many callers do not suffer from suicidal thoughts whilst callers range from eight years old to those over ninety and from every social, economic and political diversion.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2015 the leading cause for death for both genders, amongst 5–34 year olds, was suicide. For men, it is the leading cause of death up to the age of 49 in the UK. According to the historian Yuval Noah Harari, of the 56 million people who died in 2012, 800,000 people died from suicide. This is higher than the 620,000 people who died due to human violence (war, terrorism and crime). But lower than the 1.5 million people who died of diabetes. He notes how the rate rises the more developed the country becomes, citing South Korea where 9 people out of 100,000 died of suicide in 1985 but which has a rate of 36 out of 100,000 today whereas countries such as Haiti, Ghana and Peru still have low levels of 5 out of 100,000. The Samaritans offers a unique service in a developed country like the UK, so much so that many doctors advise their patients to ring them. The OECD has illustrated that it believes 45% of suicides are physiologically based due to imbalances in brain chemistry whereas the other 55% are due to the many psychological issues, like the ones listed above. Therefore, someone does not need to be mentally ill to potentially think about and carry out suicide.
Most importantly, the Samaritans have found that a majority of people who feel suicidal do not actually want to die; they just do not want to live the life they have or continue feeling the way they do. It is this subtle distinction that makes talking to someone so vital as it could help them to know that they are not alone, there are other options and they might one day not always feel the way they do.
It is free to contact the Samaritans by telephone if you live in the UK or Ireland on 116 123. Samaritans can be contacted by e-mail at jo@samaritans.org
