Ep 53_Ask Kev_CALLING & TEXTING A CRISIS LINE: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Kevin Hines:
My name is Kevin Hines. I jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. I believe that I had to die, but I lived. Today, I travel the world with my lovely wife, Margaret, sharing stories of people who have triumphed over incredible adversity. Now, we help people be here tomorrow. Welcome to the HINESIGHTS podcast.
Kevin Hines:
What is cracking, Hope Nation? It is your friendly neighborhood, Kevin Hines, and this is another round of Ask Kev, where you go into the interwebs, you send me your questions, I cultivate the answers and I bring them to you forthright, right here, right now for all of your amazing approvals. Ok, so friends and family out there watching this Ask Kev got a question the other day, crucial to answer it. The question was what to expect when calling or texting a crisis line or crisis service. And I want to go back and basically tell you about my first experience doing both, calling a crisis line and texting a crisis service. When I call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, I was calling not for myself, I was calling for somebody who had reached out who was drastically suicidal and in danger of dying, it was actually a friend of mine. She was in this place in her life where she was about to attempt to take her life, and we had to find out where she was immediately to stop her from suicide, and they could not have been more helpful. I was able to call into the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 800 273 8255, which will very soon be a new 988 number. And I was able to reach an individual who was able to ping my friend's phone through calling the police and getting them to ping my friend's phone to get a direct location of where she was or had been. And then we were able to track her down physically. My wife and I got out of bed, went to physically find her, the police found her first in the middle of her attempt. They got her to safety, and she's alive today. So thank you National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, we know that you save lives, that's been amazing. Now let's talk about when I utilized a crisis text service. I did that for myself. I was in need of someone to chat with on a private basis who could get back to me within a two to seven-minute period, and when I texted the crisis text line, shout out Nancy Lubin for all the work you do and your whole team. When I, and shout out John Draper, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, as well, Dr. John Draper. But I was able to reach out to the crisis text line in a time of need, when I was traveling, speaking, and I wasn't with my wife, who I usually talk to you about my mental health, and they were able to help me get to a better place, mentally, a better space mentally. And they were able to do that by just conversating with me over text in a simple, non-judgmental, completely empathetic, totally caring, and compassionate way. That's their gig, that's what they do. They are trained counselors and staff who worked tirelessly to better your brain health. I realize it's not easy for all of us to contact those places when we're in a world of pain and when we're suicidal, but it's so good for you to search outside yourself for somebody who cares. Now, I know there's a lot of issues with sometimes there being long wait hours for the, or long wait times for the crisis of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, but they're getting better about that, they're working hard to solve those problems. And the crisis text line that they get back to you to keep you safe, I think they're both great resources, please utilize them if you need to, utilize them if you're having a hard time, and don't hesitate to reach out so people can help by reaching in. We love you, we want you to stay, we want you to fight your pain, we want you to be here tomorrow and every day after that, you are valued, you are worthy and you do matter, and that's a promise, and you are important. Guys, I care about you. I want you to know that your life is valuable, that you are worthy and you do matter, I said it before, I'll say it again, I can never stop saying it, I want you to know that you mean the world to me, even though I don't know who you are, if you're, if you're going through pain right now, I care about you and I want you to stay. Bye, guys. Take care and be here tomorrow.
Kevin Hines:
You thought I was over, but I had another story I just thought of and I had to tell you. I was at a speech actually at the crisis text line Lollapalooza, it's a big annual conference and I was one of their keynotes, it was a great experience, I was so blessed to be a part of their program. And I got a letter from one of the young crisis text workers in the mail. Now, in my speech, I said that you've got to be the person that sees that guy on the bench who's crying his eyes out in a world of pain that goes up to him and says, hey, are you OK? Is there something I can do for you? How can I help you? And the best part about that part of presentation is one of the textures actually did it in real life. She heard my message, and where she wouldn't, maybe, maybe, maybe she wouldn't have gone to do that, that take that action for someone before. She was coming home from grocery shopping and she saw a guy on a bus stop bench, I believe, crying his eyes out in a world of pain. She walked inside, put groceries inside, kept looking out the window thinking, you know, what is this guy doing? No, it's not my business, you know, I should probably. Kevin said, I should go intervene, and she walked over and she simply started the conversation by saying something to the effect of, hey buddy, you're breaking my heart, what's wrong, what's going on? And he said, why do you care? And she said, because I'm human. And he broke down and told her his truth and why he was in so much pain. I think he has just had a break up in a very serious relationship, and he was considering suicide. And her time and effort and kindness and compassion is what kept him through the next twenty four hours, kept him alive, and he's alive today, I believe. So you never know what life you can alter forever, what destiny you can change forever, just by being there, just by being a good person, just by being yourself. So remember that, when you see that person in pain, you can be the person to get them to a better place.
Kevin Hines:
Margaret and I love sharing stories of people who have triumphed over incredible adversity. For more content and inspiration, go to KevinHinesStory.com or visit us on all social media at KevinHinesStory or on youtube.com/KevinHines.
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