very big ask. im sorry. but do you know any queer friendly mental health hotlines that dont call like ambulances or any other sort of emergency responders (hotlines where im from immediately call emergency responders, its weird i know). im not doing so well mentally and while i dont intend on hurting myself, i dont have many people in my life to reach out to. please ignore if this is too heavy, im so sorry
Hello! Sorry this took me forever tumblr ate your ask. 😭
So every hotline is going to call the ambulance but for only 3 reasons:
1, if there is a real present and dangerous threat to you. I.E., you literally tied your noose, or you already downed a bottle of medicine, or you have a weapon of your choice to end it.
2, If you consent and want to voluntarily commit yourself.
3, If you live outside the USA, it is customary for hotlines in certain countries to just automatically come and get you.
From what you're saying, I think you're outside the USA wanting to get help. The easiest way to do so without therapy or hotlines (therefore not be committed), is to honestly try and develop a community outside of yourself or family. Easier said than done right? I say it like it's not one of the hardest things to actually start to do, especially if you might have an inkling of hurting yourself.
Hotlines exist to try and help you out of a crisis. Here in the states, they help with domestic violence, suicidal or self harm ideation, or just as a counselor to talk to when shit gets real rough and you have no one else. At one point in my life, I was calling them almost daily. I knew people by name. They knew me by name. Yet I was never committed until I took that first step, until I decided to do it voluntarily.
Little tip for people in the USA, you WANT to be committed voluntarily rather than involuntarily. They typically don't put you in with the real crazy people that are detoxing and are physically violent. This isn't true for ALL places of course, but for most especially in Urban areas, it's better to be voluntarily committed. It also helps if you wish to be a gun owner in the future and things of that nature.
Even if you don't want to get committed, or are scared to, know that it is always a choice, and you would be happier in the long run committing yourself for a week to a month voluntarily rather than immediately taking things into your hands and ending up dead.
See, people think of mental health like it's either wholly good or bad. You're depressed, anxious, have a personality disorder, etc, you're mentally ill or, you're normal.
That's not how it works. You have to understand we all live in a dying capitalist nation, no matter where we are. This is the highest tensions have been since WW2 when it concerns capitalism and the way people hate it. You're not depressed because you were destined to be. You're depressed because you're isolated. You're isolated because of the way our society runs, because of capitalism. Because, especially here in America where you can see the exaggerated effects, isolation means a population is easier to control. If we all had the community our fore father's had for any country, if we had more third places more communities, we would have more context for why others are the way they are. Why that Romani person is fearful of the Europeans, why this black person here in the USA is afraid of the police. Why that Palestinian is fighting so hard for their freedom while they're going to university. If we had the context, the people in our life with those experiences, we wouldn't feel as isolated from our own experiences. We would all come to the eventual conclusions that something has to change. You wouldn't be isolated because ideally, you wouldn't have to be controlled by the government. The people would actively control the government.
Mental health is a constant broken bone. People who are "normal" are the ones benefitting from your suffering. They're helping that wheel turn and crush more people, you aren't the only one. If you see the world as it is, why we all have mental health crises, why we have issues and how it all leads back to capitalism, you start to understand that, yes while you need help with your mental health situation, you are completely justified in how you are feeling and thinking because everyone to an extent who can think for themselves is feeling and thinking the same things because suffering, living and dying are all profit motivated in any country you go to.
So, to answer your question (TL;DR): If you're in the USA, you can call the Trevor Project. I think they have some out of country lines too, but you would have to look that up. You also want to build that community. It means nothing to be committed or call a hotline and continuously feel isolated. And finally, you're completely valid in your feelings. Remember we exist in a dying capitalist dystopia. You're meant to feel isolated, but that doesn't mean you're alone and that there is no hope.
I hope this helped Nonnie, sorry it took so long and that I just kept bouncing from topic to topic, but hopefully the gesture and the point is legible. 🩷
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