What, really?

Tyler Cowen, master of the Marginal Revolution blog, has found this amazing story in the The Boston Globe about suicide help-lines:

In 723 of 1,431 calls, for example, the helper never got around to asking whether the caller was feeling suicidal.  And when suicidal thoughts were identified, the helpers asked about available means [like whether they owned a gun] less than half the time.  There were more egregious lapses, too: in 72 cases a caller was actually put on hold until he or she hung up. Seventy-six times the helper screamed at, or was rude to, the caller. Four were told they might as well kill themselves.

There were 33 evident on-line suicide attempts, yet only six rescue efforts, sometimes because the caller ended the communication.  In one case, a caller who'd overdosed passed out, yet the helper hung up.

Jaw-dropping.

Murad Ahmed

Comments

[Tim Worstall]

Why jaw dropping? "suicide help-lines", remember? To help in the process of committing suicide? Looks like they're doing very well.

(Yes, yes, I know but, inviting target and all that)