Huge increase in calls to mental health line during lockdown
Calls to an out-of-hours mental health line have soared by 171 per cent since lockdown.
Solidarity in a Crisis (SIAC), which operates an out-of-hours mental health crisis helpline, has seen a dramatic rise in calls since the beginning of the lockdown.
SIAC is a service run by Certitude, a social care provider based in Balham High Road, for people with mental health support needs, disabilities and autism.
Often people are suicidal when they phone. They are at the point when they can’t cope.
The mental health helpline is staffed by a number of ‘peer supporters’, who have undergone extensive training and have experience in mental health issues.
They are able to relate to the callers, and often speak to them in a different way because of their own experience.
Carolin Sternecker, a peer supporter for the charity, has been supporting callers during the Covid-19 lockdown.
She said: “All sorts of people are calling us right now, people who have had previous mental health issues and people who haven’t.
“Most of the calls are about the consequence of the lockdown rather than fear of the virus itself. Isolation is the biggest challenge and it is causing a great deal of anxiety.
“People are lonely and missing friends, family and workmates. We operate the helpline in the evenings and at weekends because this is when people are most likely to feel overwhelmed and experience a mental health crisis.”
The biggest increase in calls to the helpline is from younger people and men.
Carolin said: “So many people are overwhelmed by worries about housing, jobs and money, and all their usual support systems have broken down.
“If you are stuck in London in a flat with no garden or balcony and you are frightened to leave the house because you have an underlying health issue, plus no one can visit, it is very hard.”
The Solidarity in a Crisis helpline is Freephone: 0300 123 1922, Text 07889756087 or 07889756083 and is open Monday to Friday, 6pm until midnight and from noon until midnight at weekends.
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