to think MNHQ should provide an emergency telephone number?

[WeThreeKingsOfMardyBra]

OK I can see that MNHQ don't want to be inundated by calls from people who are pissed off by the latest banning of a controversial poster or by someone who is unhappy about various policies.

BUT THERE IS A THREAD IN CHAT AT THE MOMENT WHERE THERE IS A POSTER WHO IS DESPERATE AND IS TALKING ABOUT THE SAMARITANS.

It's the middle of the night. I was just about to sleep but I can't let this rest. Have PM'd MNHQ but they're probably sleeping. Feeling very frustrated. Can anyone help?

Bump. Can't even work out how to report my own thread.

The poster has not stated an intention to harm herself tonight. She wants help and can phone if she needs that support. She has said she needs to get through to the morning - that shows she is planning on doing so.

She is obviosuly having a very difficult time but other than encourage her to phone a help line or seek medical advice if appropriate then there is nothing we can do. Even if MNHQ were involved and contacted ceop it takes a long time to trace. Also such policy might put people off posting in future for fear of being reported.

Try not to worry. :)

Reported for you.

Maybe having the Samaritans helpline somewhere on the page would be better.

is it not already on the mh threads?

Hadn't thought to look in the MH topic, as I don't normally have the need to go there.

I contacted mn once because a poster reported that she wanted to die and iirc she had even taken too many pills.

MN responded quite quickly to say that although they understood my concern, the only details they have are email/ip address and there's nothing they could do. They noted that the poster was getting support on the thread.

Whatever - there is still a need for a hotline emergency number imo. The trouble is, the frothing beserkers might end up abusing it.

If a poster said on a thread she was about to take her life and goodbye type thing then I would consider phoning police/contacting ceop.

This poster has not stated an intention to kill herself, she feels suicidal, which is horrible but that doesn't mean she will act on it. And she has offers of support on here and is aware of samaritans and possibly ooh/cpn numbers if previous mh involvement.

MNHQ cant do much tbh other than pm poster or get ip address.

Thanks for your responses - also to the MNer who PM'd me. I suppose my concern was that, at one point, I felt that I was on my own with the OP who wasn't responding and had not idea what to do - there was no phone number for MNHQ, they didn't respond to my messages. I even called the Samaritans myself - there was a terribly nice lady who was very concerned for my own wellbeing who said that posting phone numbers was as much as I could do.

There really isn't anything MNHQ can do. Or any of us can do except be a person typing on the other end of the computer.

And, for future reference, you can report your own thread by clicking the report link in the upper right of your post.

Morning all.

WeThreeKings, we're so sorry you had such a distressing experience last night. Just so you know, PMs aren't the best way to reach us at MNHQ: PMs only go to the one individual MNHQer you message and, as we work a shift system, it's quite likely that the MNHQer you're messaging won't see your PM for a fair few hours, even days.

The best way to get a quick response (though we can't always guarantee 'quick' in the wee small hours), is to Report a post using the 'Report' link above any post or to mail us at [email protected].

As for your question about the suicidal poster, we completely understand your concern (and bless you for being there for here last night) but, as other posters have already said on this thread, there's often very little we at MNHQ can do to help in these situations - other than encourage anyone posting on these threads to direct the OP to the Samaritans or some other source of real-life help.

We do list the Samaritans phone number is our mental-health webguide. And we do have a note flagging up the webguide at the top of all Mental Health threads. But we will have a think about maybe flagging up emergency helplines in other ways.

We glad to see that the poster last night said she no longer intended to harm herself. We're sure the support and understanding she received from you and other MNers like you had a big part to play in her decision. Thank you so much for being there for her.