Mental health text support service launched by royals

A new text service for people who are feeling suicidal or facing a mental health crisis has been launched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The royals are calling for 3,000 members of the public to train as online counsellors.

Prince William said a low-key trail of Shout has already taken place. It saw 60,000 people “who were feeling scared, frightened and alone” contact the service with the most common issue being suicidal thoughts. So far, 85% of the users are under 25.

During this trial ambulances had to be called out for people who were using the text service and were considered at active risk of hurting themselves on an average of twice a day.

 

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3 years ago Catherine, Harry and I kicked off the Heads Together campaign with our fantastic charity partners. As part of the legacy of the @heads_together campaign we wanted to do our bit to make it easier for people to start to get the help they need. The Royal Foundation has made its biggest ever investment to do just that. And we want you to be a part of it. @giveusashoutinsta is a new textline that supports people who need advice in a tough moment. It operates 24-7, and connects people to trained volunteers who provide help at a time when it is most needed, enabling them to move from crisis to calm and to find longer term support. At the heart of Shout will be an incredible national volunteer community, one which needs to grow to allow us to support more people in crisis. I hope that many more of you will join us and be part of something very special — The Duke of Cambridge

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on May 10, 2019 at 12:04am PDT

“As texting is private and silent, it opens up a whole new way to find help,” the Duke said. “You can have a conversation anywhere, at anytime: at school, at home, anywhere.”

William, Kate, Meghan and Harry have backedSho9ut with £3 million from their Royal Foundation.

The Duchess of Cambridge said: “It’s able to offer support when it is crucially needed and the opportunity to turn lives around. This really is an important step for those desperately in need.”

Shout will allow people to open up a text chat with a volunteer working remotely who have been trained to listen, reassure and guide people. All the text conversations are anonymous unless the client wants to give their name.

“[Volunteering] is not for everyone,” said Prince William, who has previously told how his first assignment when he worked for East Anglian air ambulance was to a male suicide. “There are some very difficult conversations. You need to be able to listen without judgment on a range of issues from suicidal thoughts to bullying, abuse, sexuality, self-harm and relationships.”

Each volunteer is asked to do training and 200 hours of volunteering a year. A similar system in the US has been operating for five years and has handled 100 million texts. In the UK in 2018 there were 5,821 suicides with the highest rate for men aged 45-49.

The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is modelled on the US-based Crisis Text Line, which was launched in August 2013. Information about the service and volunteering can be found at giveusashout.org

Early data from Shout shows suicidal thoughts made up 40% of text contacts with depression or sadness accounting for 38%. Eight pm to midnight was the most popular time to text seeking help.