If the National Suicide Hotline puts you on hold, where else can you call?

June 10, 2018June 12, 20183 Comments

In light of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spades’ suicides, both discussion of suicide and calls to suicide hotlines have peaked. I have heard some people share that when they call the National Suicide Hotline (800-273-8255), they are put on hold. If you do not want to wait, there are alternate suicide hotline numbers that are local/state-wide or population-specific that can be more accessible since they are targeted to a smaller population.

For example, for people who are local to Southern California, an alternate suicide hotline number that is more accessible is Didi Hirsch’s Suicide Hotline: (877) 727-4747. It’s specifically to serve Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial Counties, which is why it’s less in demand. Their counselors are very well trained and they spend a good amount of time with you. I have received training from Didi Hirsch and am very familiar with this organization so I highly recommend them.

There are also population-specific hotlines, like for Asian Americans, LGBTQ youth, veterans, kids, teens, and families, phone lines in Spanish and other languages, and there are texting hotlines. I’ve pasted a few below.

I’ve listed the most prominent ones below:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org
📞 800-273-TALK (8255)
📞 TTY: 800-799-4TTY (4889)

Crisis Text Line
https://www.crisistextline.org/how-it-works
Text 741741
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crisistextline

Lifeline Crisis Chat
http://www.crisischat.org
1:1 Online Chat: http://www.crisischat.org/chat (12:00 pm – 12:00 am EST)

IMAlive Crisis Chat
https://www.imalive.org

Red para la Prevención del Suicidio USA
📞 888-628-9454
Se Habla Español 24/7

Spanish-Speaking Suicide Hotline USA
📞800-SUICIDA (784-2432) Suicida.Hotline
Se Habla Español

Suicide Hotline in Spanish USA
📞800-273-TALK (8255), Press 2
Se Habla Español 24/7

Asian American Suicide Prevention and Education
http://www.aaspe.net
📞 877-990-8585 (Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and Fujianese)

Boys Town Suicide and Crisis Line (for teens/parents/families)
http://www.boystown.org/national-hotline
📞 800-448-3000
Text, Chat Email: http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/ways-to-get-help.aspx

Vet2Vet Veterans Crisis Hotline
http://www.yourlifecounts.org/crisis-line/vet2vet-veteran%E2%80%99s-crisis-line
📞 1-877-VET-2-VET (838-2838)

Veterans Crisis Line USA
📞800-273-TALK (8255), press 1

New Hope Now USA
📞714-NEW-HOPE (639-4673)

Postpartum Depression Hotline USA
📞800-PPD-MOMS (773-6667)

Kids Helpline USA
📞1-877-KIDS-400
Kids under 18

Teen to Teen Peer Counseling Hotline USA
📞877-YOUTHLINE (968-8454)

The Trevor Project USA: LGBTQ Youth 24/7
📞866-4-U-TREVOR (488-7386)

Your Life Your Voice USA
📞800-448-3000 YLYV Teens/Youth Phone 24/7
Live Chat Mondays – Thursdays 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm CST / Email

More lists are here: http://suicideprevention.wikia.com/wiki/USA

For state/county-specific hotlines and non-U.S. hotlines: http://suicide.org/suicide-hotlines.html

If you are struggling, please reach out! Help is there, even if it doesn’t seem that way.

Please share! You may never know who you will help with this information.

You can also view my TEDx talk which discusses my history of suicide, subsequent recovery, and lessons that we can ALL learn here: https://youtu.be/GVkL3glwL8g

Hufsa Ahmad - Mental Health Speaker, Coach & Therapist

Relapse is Part of Recovery, TEDx talk is out!

May 14, 2018May 13, 2018Leave a comment

“Relapses are opportunities for growth, not something to be ashamed.”

“We all need to be supportive of the people who relapse, because we all relapse.”

“STIGMA SMASH!”

Just some quotes from my new TEDx talk, which is about how the lowest points in our lives bring us insight and are NOT something to be ashamed of. I talked about my mental health history but expand challenges to apply to anyone and everyone – we are all in the same boat, which means we ALL need to support each other. Check it out!

Please share, like, comment!

Announcement!

February 1, 2018February 2, 20181 Comment

Hi everyone! Hope that you are well! I have some great news…I will be giving a TEDx talk in New Jersey on April 7, 2018! My talk is called “Relapse is Part of Recovery.” I’m interviewing 100 people to really flesh out my talk, and here is a summary:

“Relapse is part of recovery” is a term frequently used in the addiction world to encourage people to continue if they lose their sobriety. But relapses (which I define as “rock bottoms”) happen outside of addiction and mental illness: there are relapses in careers, relationships, societies, identities, etc.

When people relapse, they are often faced with shame, disappointment, and see it as a failure. But what I’m finding is that frequently, as a result of a relapse, we gain some sort of insight that changes our lives for the better.

My talk argues that we need to rethink our views of relapse and how we handle relapses. We need to recognize that they are frequently an opportunity for growth. When someone relapses, we need to be supportive, encouraging, and hopeful. And that, my friends, will lead to “A Better Future” (the theme of the TEDx I am part of).

I am documenting my whole journey of building this TEDx talk on instagram: @hufsathegreat. I can’t tell you how many people are coming together to help me with this talk: allowing me to interview them, sending me pictures…I even have local actors who are going to help me film a scene for my talk. Wow!

Stay tuned! I’ll be posting about some of the stories I have been hearing!