When you're in crisis, where do you go?
Depending on your feelings, fears, and past experiences, you may go to a friend or family member. You might call a crisis hotline. More and more, you might go online.
Whether it's to Google symptoms or solutions, or to find the number for a resource, going online is, for many, the first stop for getting information and help. The urge and inclination to go online first is what motivated Google to create an easy way for people to find the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number if they search for "suicide."
It's also what's motivated many working in suicide prevention to develop a way to do crisis chat online. State and local suicide prevention professionals, as well as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's veteran's crisis chat service, are figuring out how to best—and with the highest level of safety—use technology for good.
But, there's now a new national partnership of some pretty big players in the suicide prevention world. IMAlive has been created by The Kristin Brooks Hope Center, in partnership with To Write Love on Her Arms, the QPR Institute, and PostSecret.
With an extremely simple interface, IMAlive allows a user to click "Chat Now" and talk virtually with a certified crisis intervention volunteer. All volunteers are trained in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), a very popular gatekeeper, or suicide prevention and mental health support, training. (For reference, many people who answer crisis hotlines are trained volunteers.)
So, what's good about online crisis chat?
- It's accessible. You really can't beat online—there's something super-anonymous about online chat that might keep people who would hang up a phone connected.
- It utilizes technology with which people are very familiar and comfortable. We're already talking about some of fears and anxieties using chat.
- It might reach people who don't believe in crisis hotlines. Some people—well, lots of people—would never call a crisis hotline. The simple novelty of online chat might draw them in—and get them help.
And, what are the questions it raises?
- What kinds of skills do volunteers need to listen virtually? "Listening" to the tones and implications inherent in online chat is a different skill set than listening over the phone. It's hard to tell what's anger, what's sarcasm, and what's rising anxiety.
- What opportunities does it present for research? Can chats be studied to determine signs that someone is going to disconnect? What language are people using to describe their feelings?
- We're still trying to figure out how best to run hotlines. Why take on something new? It's true. Hotlines are being researched to figure out what works and what doesn't. Should we divert resources from those efforts for something new—and untested?
Given my questions, I'm sure you can tell that I can't wait to see what happens with online chat. One of my favorite aphorisms, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good," seems apt here. What do you think?
Copyright 2011 Elana Premack Sandler, All Rights Reserved
