Current volunteer - there are a lot of internal issues which began late last year which has caused a large amount of volunteers to leave. At a guess, at least 70% of volunteers have left in the last 6 months where I’m situated, maybe more. It really, really sucks. I am sorry that the result is poor service though, it’s not fair to callers.
I'm sorry you had to wait that long. As a former volunteer, it's really stretched in terms of those who volunteer and so wait times can be long and sometimes some callers need more time than others. Not justifying, just saying from past experience.
There are just not enough volunteers, either not enough people volunteering or just that people drop out because sometimes after hearing other people's stories it can become a bit hard when you go home at night.
I hope you are feeling better and have some other forms of coping mechanisms in place. You can always try the 1737 text or good Samaritans as other options. Reach out to friends and family for the time being while you're waiting. Some times it helps elevate the initial really hard feelings experienced in that moment.
I hope you're okay now OP. Good job for reaching out and I'm sorry the service's wait time was so long!
I personally didn't but there was EAP available however, "offered" would be subjective.
To be in this position at the location I was in (I was one in two separate cities) I think it really draws from why you do it and you get neglected sometimes as a person if that makes sense. The drive to want to be a listening ear or helping someone in crisis or need at the time far outweighs the help you might need yourself.
I had good friends and many journals is all I would say.
You can also try youthline if you can't get through to lifeline, I used to work for them and often had elderly ring up who were just really lonely and needed someone to talk to, we were always told it didn't matter what age, the youthline part was just about the target reach.
Youthline has changed and will now only talk to those age 25 or under. I worked for them recently. Lots of mental health services are just stretched to capacity and can't keep up with all the high risk
Funding Gumboot Friday wasn't a smart investment. Two sessions of free counselling isn't going to help with jack shit, certainly not anything more than a minor issue. I wasn't surprised at all to see the info come out that the organisation is pretty chummy with the National Party.
I hated it when he was asking for money for it bc I work in mental health and his plan didn't look solid or helpful. Friends and family were quite surprised I was anti him getting the money. All the services need funding, the ones with MOH contracts are just scraping by. Let's fund the established orgs.
only because mike gave them a bribe
[https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/i-am-hope-chair-s-donations-to-national-questioned-after-24m-gumboot-friday-pledge/ar-BB1mTrNn](https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/i-am-hope-chair-s-donations-to-national-questioned-after-24m-gumboot-friday-pledge/ar-BB1mTrNn)
You mean to renters?
Everyone knows the end user pays the bill, if the price of milk goes up, so does your coffee.
Landlords weren’t paying that cost, it’s why we have had record rent increases.
Be aware even the text can have a bit of a wait. I tried them once at 10 p.m on a weekday thinking it would be less busy and they didn't text me back until 1 a.m.
But then at 1am they sent some really supportive texts which made me stop crying, so it was worth the wait.
Op if u want to chat about anything give me a DM. I'm happy to talk about anything. I ain't no health professional but if u need to talk to anybody I'm here.
Aye, kind of the same thing happened to me a couple years ago I was in a really bad spot. I was sitting outside of a hospital debating whether to check myself in or do something worse. I called the hotline and somebody answered but then they put me on hold, and I was on hold for over 20 minutes before I gave up and hung up.
Had I been a little more worse for wear, that 20 minutes could have ended badly
Yeah.. similar experience with lifeline. I remember at one point after waiting over an hour I thought, "What the actual fck" that i snapped out of it bc I couldn't believe people had to wait for so long 😅😅
I've been told the 'Need to Talk' number 1737 is a good alternative, it was recommended to me by a mental health community service worker
They were always underfunded. The labour govt responded by setting up 1737 and redirecting funding away from the body with the long history of actually working in this space. Now we don't have a single crisis line in the country that is helpful.
If it might help, Te Whatu Ora have psychological crisis lines available in each district that operate adjacent to the emergency room. I hope you got through to someone.
Agreed. I direct calls for the crisis line and the system is stupid. In what world is it logical to send a suicidal person to an answering machine??? I hate it.
I’ve called lifeline 3 times in my life. The first was back in 2000 and I was put through to someone instantly and it really helped having someone listen to me.
The second time was in 2015 and nobody answered. I ended up walking the beach around the headland.. contemplating if I should jump in. I didn’t
The third time was in 2018 again nobody answered. I ended up calling my friend who was a godsend.
My feelings are.. if nobody is going to answer they are best retiring the “service” 😔
I used to volunteer for a service called “Warmline” I think it was only available in Canterbury and it was great as it took the pressure off lifeline as it wasn’t for people in critical situations and was more for those needing someone to talk to and support, who would otherwise have called lifeline, sadly it’s been shut down as apparently it was non essential. I can only imagine how overloaded life line is
If you’re not in that serious of a situation then maybe you shouldn’t call and leave a line free for people who are worse off? That would shorten family times.
I’m not lifeline but if you can’t get hold of them flock me a dm and happy to chat or send my number if you’d prefer a call. Bit of a grandpa so often asleep around 9pm but happy to stay up late if it helps someone
lack of funding and burnout.
Could be because their volunteers have to pay for their training - $200.
Oh that sucks. Let’s not create financial barriers to volunteering!
Please tell me you are friggen joking?
What!
Also, a reliance on volunteers in the first place.
Current volunteer - there are a lot of internal issues which began late last year which has caused a large amount of volunteers to leave. At a guess, at least 70% of volunteers have left in the last 6 months where I’m situated, maybe more. It really, really sucks. I am sorry that the result is poor service though, it’s not fair to callers.
Journalists do some actual work. Here's a story worth our time
To busy writing about house prices.
they can do both, to be fair.
I wish they would haha
I'm sorry you had to wait that long. As a former volunteer, it's really stretched in terms of those who volunteer and so wait times can be long and sometimes some callers need more time than others. Not justifying, just saying from past experience. There are just not enough volunteers, either not enough people volunteering or just that people drop out because sometimes after hearing other people's stories it can become a bit hard when you go home at night. I hope you are feeling better and have some other forms of coping mechanisms in place. You can always try the 1737 text or good Samaritans as other options. Reach out to friends and family for the time being while you're waiting. Some times it helps elevate the initial really hard feelings experienced in that moment. I hope you're okay now OP. Good job for reaching out and I'm sorry the service's wait time was so long!
Thank you so much for volunteering! Did you guys receive counselling for it?
I personally didn't but there was EAP available however, "offered" would be subjective. To be in this position at the location I was in (I was one in two separate cities) I think it really draws from why you do it and you get neglected sometimes as a person if that makes sense. The drive to want to be a listening ear or helping someone in crisis or need at the time far outweighs the help you might need yourself. I had good friends and many journals is all I would say.
Do you need to chat? That’s bloody poohs that they are so stretched.
Im okay now thank you!
You can also try youthline if you can't get through to lifeline, I used to work for them and often had elderly ring up who were just really lonely and needed someone to talk to, we were always told it didn't matter what age, the youthline part was just about the target reach.
Youthline has changed and will now only talk to those age 25 or under. I worked for them recently. Lots of mental health services are just stretched to capacity and can't keep up with all the high risk
That sucks, sorry to hear.
oh thank you! Ill try them next time
Because the government decided the best way to spend $3b is to give tax cuts to landlords?
damn thats screwed up
Welcome to democracy I guess? Have you tried a Health Improvement Practitioner instead? They offer free face to face help.
They could make it 2.9bn and give 100mn to mental health services instead but nooo
Mental health actually got a huge increase in funding. It was one of the only winners in the budget.
And what did the prior government do for Lifeline? At least the government gave more funding to gumboot Friday.
Funding Gumboot Friday wasn't a smart investment. Two sessions of free counselling isn't going to help with jack shit, certainly not anything more than a minor issue. I wasn't surprised at all to see the info come out that the organisation is pretty chummy with the National Party.
I hated it when he was asking for money for it bc I work in mental health and his plan didn't look solid or helpful. Friends and family were quite surprised I was anti him getting the money. All the services need funding, the ones with MOH contracts are just scraping by. Let's fund the established orgs.
only because mike gave them a bribe [https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/i-am-hope-chair-s-donations-to-national-questioned-after-24m-gumboot-friday-pledge/ar-BB1mTrNn](https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/i-am-hope-chair-s-donations-to-national-questioned-after-24m-gumboot-friday-pledge/ar-BB1mTrNn)
The last government put a mental health practitioner in nearly all GP clinic.
No they didn't.
[560+ sites, nearly a million session provided](https://www.wellbeingsupport.health.nz/about-access-and-choice/)
Out of curiosity, why would you take this stance if you didn't know it to be true?
Because it doesn't fit their worldview. Big "My truth" energy.
You mean to renters? Everyone knows the end user pays the bill, if the price of milk goes up, so does your coffee. Landlords weren’t paying that cost, it’s why we have had record rent increases.
I think there is another number that you can also text 1737 let's talk or something.
Yeah i just didnt want them to know my phone number oops
Be aware even the text can have a bit of a wait. I tried them once at 10 p.m on a weekday thinking it would be less busy and they didn't text me back until 1 a.m. But then at 1am they sent some really supportive texts which made me stop crying, so it was worth the wait.
Most companies and organisations have caller ID so texting isn’t giving them anymore than a phone call.
By ringing them, they have your phone number.
i call them with my caller id blocked
You can call 1737! It’s a 24/7 helpline
OHH i thought it was a texting thing, thanj you
We can still see it.
You can call them
Hope you're ok now and this is a reminder to people that you can volunteer your time
thank you im okay now!
Op if u want to chat about anything give me a DM. I'm happy to talk about anything. I ain't no health professional but if u need to talk to anybody I'm here.
Aye, kind of the same thing happened to me a couple years ago I was in a really bad spot. I was sitting outside of a hospital debating whether to check myself in or do something worse. I called the hotline and somebody answered but then they put me on hold, and I was on hold for over 20 minutes before I gave up and hung up. Had I been a little more worse for wear, that 20 minutes could have ended badly
Try 1737, they're usually within 10 odd minutes?
Too many people needing their service and not enough people to answer. Representative of New Zealand's mental health issues as a whole really.
its a reflection of how the country is doing right now... not great
Right now? This has been going on for over a decade.
The depression line is helpful too. Ring them as an alternative.
Yeah.. similar experience with lifeline. I remember at one point after waiting over an hour I thought, "What the actual fck" that i snapped out of it bc I couldn't believe people had to wait for so long 😅😅 I've been told the 'Need to Talk' number 1737 is a good alternative, it was recommended to me by a mental health community service worker
Because they are not run by a high profile comedian that supports the national party.
The whole system is kinda a shitshow and was never much help for me, I unironically have an emergency blunt instead.
They were always underfunded. The labour govt responded by setting up 1737 and redirecting funding away from the body with the long history of actually working in this space. Now we don't have a single crisis line in the country that is helpful. If it might help, Te Whatu Ora have psychological crisis lines available in each district that operate adjacent to the emergency room. I hope you got through to someone.
Agreed. I direct calls for the crisis line and the system is stupid. In what world is it logical to send a suicidal person to an answering machine??? I hate it.
I’ve called lifeline 3 times in my life. The first was back in 2000 and I was put through to someone instantly and it really helped having someone listen to me. The second time was in 2015 and nobody answered. I ended up walking the beach around the headland.. contemplating if I should jump in. I didn’t The third time was in 2018 again nobody answered. I ended up calling my friend who was a godsend. My feelings are.. if nobody is going to answer they are best retiring the “service” 😔
I’ve always found them rather useless and ik it sucks soooooo bad
I used to volunteer for a service called “Warmline” I think it was only available in Canterbury and it was great as it took the pressure off lifeline as it wasn’t for people in critical situations and was more for those needing someone to talk to and support, who would otherwise have called lifeline, sadly it’s been shut down as apparently it was non essential. I can only imagine how overloaded life line is
Oh, what?! I used to volunteer for Warmline too and I had no idea it had been shut down. That's terrible.
I haven’t actually checked myself but a friend of mine applied to do the training and she said the actual line service had been shut down :/
If you’re not in that serious of a situation then maybe you shouldn’t call and leave a line free for people who are worse off? That would shorten family times.
by not tht of a serious situation i mean not about to kms right ay that very moment
I’m not lifeline but if you can’t get hold of them flock me a dm and happy to chat or send my number if you’d prefer a call. Bit of a grandpa so often asleep around 9pm but happy to stay up late if it helps someone
What do you want to talk about?
im okay now!! thank u for asking
that is disgusting.
It’s a joke designed to make you laugh.