2023-04-27 17:38:07
Bruna Wilde always had to find the thread. And if she didn’t find him, she had to spin one. Time wasn’t a factor when someone on the other end of the line was talking to her about suicidal thoughts in the middle of the night. Then she talked to the caller until she could ask him, “Do you feel able to get through the rest of the night and go to the clinic or therapist tomorrow? And can you agree with me that you call us again tomorrow?” If this “commitment”, as Wilde calls it, didn’t work out, if there wasn’t a thread, no matter how thin, then she would do another round. Once she spoke to a suicidal person for her entire shift, three hours, and then handed the phone to her relief.
People who don’t know what to do, let alone who to tell, can call the ecumenical telephone counseling service in Darmstadt around the clock. Whether they are religious doesn’t matter. The conversations are anonymous. Wilde has worked voluntarily for telephone counseling for 23 years. If she were still there, she wouldn’t be speaking to the press to protect her callers. She remains close to the club. Wilde actually has a different name. Her age should not be in the newspaper either, only that she is of retirement age. She did her shifts at any time of day or night until 2013 alongside her full-time job, as did many of the 71 volunteers in Darmstadt.
#Telephone #counseling #helps #loneliness #suicidal #thoughts