What do you do if you regularly get cussed at, verbally abused and harrassed, or treated badly?
Usually, the correct answer is – walk away.
Just like the emergency services where the phoneline is free, we at Samaritans get a lot of calls that we term “Misuse of Service”.
As a Samaritans volunteer where we man the free-of-charge phone lines supporting callers who are feeling suicidal, we get our fair share of MOS callers.
It can be quite demoralising, especially if we get a series of them during a shift, but we manage our callers with a calm professional demeanor and end the calls appropriately.
It does not mean that we aren’t affected, especially if the harrassment is of racist, xenophobic or sexual in nature, and more so if our personal safety is threatened.
As such, our excellent training covers such scenarios, with role plays to help new volunteers acquire the skills necessary to handle such difficult calls.
This was the last topic today for my branch’s new recruits, who are about to move from being trained to being mentored and getting on the phone lines on their first shift.
I always feel very moved whenever our new group graduates into the branch, as new volunteers for our listening service is so badly needed particularly at this time.
If you’re in a good place, and you have the capacity to help – please consider volunteering for an organisation that is important to you.
If you are interested in learning how to support others by listening, check out the Samaritans website and look for the closest branch near you.
I promise you that you will get far more out of it than you put in.
It is so very very worth it.
For you, and the lives that you touch. 🌹