Hello, please help!

Irrespective of our age, gender, family status or social standing any of us can find ourselves in a difficult situation. This is when we desperately need advice, moral support, a chance to express ourselves and be understood without the fear of seeing angry eyes or encountering judgment. Some people can talk their problems over with close friends, colleagues, others with parents and still others prefer to speak to an unknown person who is accidentally there.  

Teenagers are particularly prone to mood swings. Young people have a very vulnerable mentality. Any little detail, any awkward word or remark will suffice to change the consciousness and mood of a teenager. The good news is that nowadays, in difficult times one can turn to professionals, those who try to help but will also ensure your full anonymity. This is what the helpline is about, a special service for providing psychological assistance to the people. Certainly, none of us thinks that just a phone call will change the situation and resolve all our problems. However, by calling the helpline we can always count on getting professional psychological help, reasonable advice and recommendation. 

A view from within

Few people have an insider view of how helplines work. Impersonal voices beyond the telephone come from people who are constantly working to help others. Their work is not limited to just answering phone calls and helping people overcome what seems like a hopeless psychological condition. Workers at crisis telephone lines regularly meet at roundtables and trainings, discussing how to act in a particular situation. They have tremendous responsibility as they may have to deal with numerous human problems and broken lives. They say, tenuous connections are broken easily. In times of trouble, professionals can extend a helping hand and bring the person back from the point of no return. 

One such helpline service is the crisis centre for youth at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism. The agency is manned by outstanding professionals. Coordinator Aysel Babayeva told R+ that all employees of the helpline either graduates or have masters degrees in psychology. "Our employees went through a highly competitive multi-phase selection. They were checked for many criteria, including endurance, ability to work under crisis and tolerance." We selected only 13 out of 60 candidates. They only started their activities after they attended trainings held by professionals from the University of Wyoming. It should also be noted that each of our employees has their own work mode.  

We encounter different kinds of people who phone us. As well as ordinary people who have their "ordinary" problems, sometimes we have to deal with unstable people with serious psychological problems. Sometimes we also get phone calls from obscene callers. Some people call to make acquaintances or to simply have fun. Nevertheless, our patient operators, most of whom are young women, calmly reprimand them, saying that "while you are having fun here, somebody may be trying to commit suicide. We here can help this person."

If we imagine how many lives and problems are encountered by our operators, we may ask how they manage to deal with all of this and not be overwhelmed by the problems of truly unhappy people. On the other hand, how effective would their work be if they treated their job without too much involvement and care?

One of the helpline operators, a lovely girl, tells us: "Each of us possesses empathy, that is, an ability to sympathize with the callers, their problems and feelings. At the same time, for us this is work. Before we started, we underwent a lot of training thanks to which each of us sets the goal of taking the people out of their crisis situations. In addition, our qualification helps us in our own life as well. Our flexible working hours also help us avoid exhaustion."

What is the method of help to those in need? "I had once incident. A woman called. From the very beginning of the conversation it became clear that she had a more serious problem than she thought. She spoke about her deceased mother. When she was alive she worked as a psychiatrist. She was a well-known person and very rich as well. They she moved on to say that her partner abandoned her after she ran out of money. This was psychosis. I let her speak her mind and then I asked whether or not she had undergone treatment before. I avoided words like "psychiatrist", "mental hospital", "psychotropic medicine", etc. I asked her to do a few breathing exercises with me to help her calm down and offered to send her a psychological brigade, but she refused. Then I invited her to visit our centre. I do not know if she ever came. We have a coordinator to deal with such matters. However, at that moment, I managed to help her overcome a very serious emotional tension."  

Helpline operators do not claim to have universal powers. They can only provide psychological assistance and counsel. In more difficult situations, they advise the callers to turn to other, more competent authorities. 

The coordinator says: "Young people's mentality is very fragile by nature and is often susceptible to depression. If you encounter problems or have simply no one to share your problems with, do not reject help. Help is near, just a phone call away."

Opinion

Despite the fact that there is a lot of information available about the work of hotlines, many people still prefer to resolve their problems the old way - share them with friends and relatives. It is still sufficiently difficult to overcome inhibitions and tell an absolute stranger across a telephone line about your innermost problems. People in Azerbaijan seldom trust such services that can not only extend professional help but also keep this confidential. "We live in a small city where everybody knows everybody else," one man says. "If the operator tells my problem to somebody else, the whole city will start discussing it the next day."

"They are all linked with the law enforcement agencies and mental hospitals," says another one. "If you call them and tell them that you are having a problem because you had a drug overdose, you will soon get a knock on your door from a police unit that has come after you."

Sometimes people cite absurd reasons for not calling. Nevertheless, people, especially in large cities, are finding it difficult to express themselves. There are still no systems that regulate people turning to professional help, even if this help is absolutely free. All this can also be ascribed to our national character and close kinship thanks to which, fortunately, there are not many instances when people are left without compassion from friends and loved ones. 

A few facts

Helplines have a substantial history of over a century. The first helpline appeared in New York at the end of the 20th century. In 1906, priest Gary Warren received a phone call. A voice on the other end was begging for help and spoke about the hopeless situation he was in. "The church will be open early morning tomorrow," the father said. The next day he learnt that the caller had hung himself. This devastated the priest so much that he published an announcement in the newspapers, saying "before you decide to take your life, get in touch with me." Later, in 1958, a telephone service emerged in Britain which was also set up by a priest. People on the verge of suicide could get in touch with the agency. Nowadays, psychological helplines and consulting services help the people resolve many psychological problems. It goes without saying that they have a big social role as the psychic and psychological well-being of every individual eventually translates into the health of the whole nation. 

In Azerbaijan, specifically Baku, helplines emerged in 1993. Unsurprisingly, the creation of such organizations was embraced by people who had been beset by social unrest, the destruction of their usual lifestyle, and economic and emotional instability. The helpline experienced a surge of phone calls. The agency successfully operated until at least the year 2003. Several other helpline agencies emerged a little later, many of which were created at the initiative of state agencies. One such helpline was the crisis centre for youth under the Ministry for Youth, Sport and Tourism of Azerbaijan. 

Babayeva says that their work is mainly focused on the youth. However, they sometimes get phone calls from people of other age groups. The main problems troubling the youth are romance related - being in love, conflicts and interpersonal relations. "All this is characteristic of young people. This is a time when each failure is perceived as a major personal tragedy. At this age, even a minor problem can compel a young person to commit suicide," she says. According to the statistics, the next common problem type is the generation gap between parents and children. This if followed by illness-related problems, as well as education and unemployment. 

 An anonymous operator of another helpline service, targeting people of 18 years and above, also said that the people are mainly concerned about interpersonal problems and conflicts: "This is the most sensitive issue not only for young but for older people as well. Many people call with interpersonal problems between husbands and wives in families. Phone calls come from women, as well as from men. Teenagers mainly complain about unrequited love. In some cases the callers were experiencing complete financial ruin. They were no longer able to provide for their families and thought suicide was the only way out of the situation. Fortunately, often we manage to help the people emerge from their severe suicidal condition. These people later call us to tell us about how the situation developed. They thank us and tell us that after they spoke to us they found a way out, which is exactly why we work."

Helpline centres usually work for the following reasons: to help callers emerge from a crisis situation; psychological consultation; redirection, if need be, to other institutions where they can receive more comprehensive help, - such as psycho neurological hospitals, centres or crisis centres. In cases when a distant telephone consultation is insufficient, they provide information about the helpline and their work. 

Absolute anonymity is guaranteed in all cases.