2023-09-10 05:21:15
A constant search for volunteers
To be able to respond to the growing distress of the population, the Suicide Prevention Center is constantly recruiting volunteers ready to give a little of their time to answer calls that reach the crisis line. Since 2023, the Center has been organized to be able to respond to three calls simultaneously. “Around sixty volunteers are already working, but ideally we would need double that number!” explains Déborah Deseck, communications manager. “We are particularly having difficulty filling the night time slots.”
Ideally, there should be double the number of volunteers
These volunteers are trained for three months and respond to calls in the time slots that suit them. They are supervised at least once a month by a psychologist to be able to file any difficult calls they receive.
“The most frequent calls are emotional, crisis calls” explains Hortense. “Our role is to measure where the person is in relation to their idea of suicide. Is the suicide device already next to the person, in their house, or is it in their mind? If the person is committing suicide, we call 112. Calls can sometimes last an hour. At the end of the call, people are often calm and thank us.”
We feel like we failed to protect our child.
Essential psychological help both in terms of prevention and “postvention”, to support loved ones who are going through such an ordeal. “We did a lot of work with our psychologist because the feeling of guilt is very strong. We have the impression that we did not know how to protect our child, that we saw nothing, that we failed our mission” confides Jean-Louis Tasiaux.
“We find it super important to talk regarding it because even if we try to repress it, it always comes back. We think regarding it all the time. For example, we talked regarding it a lot with Lucie’s friends. We were afraid that there would be a phenomenon of contagion.
Although mental health is less and less taboo in society, suicide remains a subject often avoided and absent from public debate. Many people stay alone with their dark thoughts without daring to talk regarding them. On this World Suicide Prevention Day, the Suicide Prevention Center wants to free people to speak out through its “Before the tragedy” campaign. In Belgium, more than one in four deaths is attributable to suicide among 15-24 year olds.
Share your pain and suffering with the volunteers at the Suicide Prevention Center. They can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 0800/32.123. Calls are free and anonymity is respected.
1694331153
#Explosion #number #calls #Suicide #Prevention #Center #young #people #contacting #children
