O'Grady testimony: Samaritans hotline and concerns about 988 practices
O'Grady describes Samaritans' completely confidential and anonymous hotline answering 60,000+ calls annually without call-tracing technology. She raises concerns about 988's involuntary hospitalization practices, noting that those hospitalized against their will are at higher risk for future suicide, and calls for more nuanced harm assessment.
We operate New York City's only completely confidential and anonymous 24-hour suicide prevention hotline.
We answer 60-plus thousand calls a year.
And we don't even have the technology to trace a call.
And, you know, there are 400 Samaritan centers in 40 plus countries worldwide.
And we all believe in that dictum.
And I have seen and we know from the studies, too, to also be careful.
When we absolutely agree that 988 is a brilliant service, but we also know that statistically those who are hospitalized
without permission from the person, because they have been...
they've made the phone call to 988 and the person answering the call, if they determine that that person is
either at risk for harming themselves or others, then they can decide to trace the call and bring help to that person.
Who then goes to the hospital or is in with police, et cetera.
And we know that they
will be more at risk for suicide and have not learned to turn towards that kind of behavior.
So I think also having the 988, you know, to continue to have a more nuanced approach to the assessment of harm to others and especially harm to yourself.
Is one and that's why I speak about you can have suicidal thoughts, you can have the means available, you know how to do it but you don't have a time set.
So you reach the edge of the cliff when all of those and so that is like on our suicide
prevention hotline, that's our way of teaching and preaching.
And also, yes, you're calling an anonymous line, but ultimately you're calling a suicide prevention line.
You're not calling, you know, a service that can help you to die.
You're calling a service to prevent suicide.
And so we need...
We need a multiplicity of approaches, and I think for our veterans especially, because they're so high risk, it's an extraordinary to know that the White Star family even exists.
I will say that I was ignorant and did not know, and I'm very pleased to learn that, and also from Dr.
Nichols to learn the many.
Nuanced ways of looking at our veterans and being of assistance to them.
Thank you.