to ask what's the worst/silliest advice you've seen on here?

[Francoitalialan]

MN is such a tremendous source of info but sometimes it goes wonky. What's the worst/silliest advice you've seen?

So do I if a posters is suicidal then there is no other immediate advice we can give saying ring the samaratians or your gp is sensible

Sqoosh. As someone who has been suicidal and rang the samaritans I can guarantee you the better advice would have been to go to doctor

Suggesting contacting the Samaritans to someone who is suicidsl is good advice.

Suggesting they 'think' of the kids may not be.

Best to offer sympathy and company and to leave the advice to people who are trained.

I think a lot of people believe samaritans solve something. They don't. They just listen.
It can be devastating to ring them and realise that is all they do.

The samaritans are a listening ear i dont think they say other wise if a poster reads a distressing post and they dont want to read and not say anything then mentioning samaritans is giving sensible supportive advice.

One of the funniest things I've ever read on MN was when a poster asked if she was BU to think it's not right that her niece should be forced curtsey to the queen on an upcoming Royal school visit.

She got told numerous times "if you don't like it leave the country"

Any dispute involving psychopathic neighbours shitting in your flowerbeds/landgrabbing your garden or holding loud all-night druggy parties can be solved by popping a nice polite note through their letterbox.

Ditto; villains who park all day and night in your driveway can be foiled with a similar polite note popped on the windscreen.

School parking. OMG.

"Just go to your nearest school."
We do. It's 8 miles away. That's a 16 mile round trip. And DS3 only does mornings so I'm st school 3 x a day so 48 miles a day, on foot. Yeah ok.

The samaritans are shit. As someone in MH crisis at the moment they do nothing but listen. When you say to them you've done x y or z they do the telephone equivalent of nodding and smiling. No practical advice no calling an ambulance. So if you want someone to listen to you die ring the samaritans.

If you want actual proper help ring 999 or the MH crisis team

Garlick.. It's the responding poster asking and answering the question themselves without waiting for the OP to respond.
Sorry I didn't make that clear!

Calling the Samaritans when I felt suicidal after my mum died made me feel far worse than I had before I called. I might as well have been talking to the wall for all the response I received. Nodding and smiling is exactly right.

Yy Starling May as well ring the speaking clock.

I don't know what I was expecting when I rang them really, certainly more than the nodding and sympathetic noises.

Nyes.

On this type of thread, people always remember things with their own twist.

In fairness to posters who recommend them they have never required help themselves

I'm going to stick up for the Sams here, as I've spent up to three hours on the phone to them sometimes (you have to ring back after an hour, but they'll try and give you the same person.)

I didn't expect anything other than listening, though, and took advice like "make yourself a cup of tea" literally as intended. My expectations weren't unreasonable as I've done some time on the phones myself, a long time ago.

I left because of not being allowed to intervene in a particular case (criminal confession.) I later found out this had been my particular supervisor's decision and Sams will break confidence in serious cases - like therapists.

In general, though, it's not really fair to expect a volunteer to take the responsibility of involving third parties in strangers' lives on the basis of a phone call. Being able to talk is good therapy, especially when the feeling of isolation makes everything so much more painful.

I am sorry that some PPs have felt let down by the service. It's a great pity the volunteers your spoke to couldn't help you get the courage to call for outside help when you needed it

If the samaritans told people that they are human googlers for organisations that can help then they might help

Pre internet the samaritans had its place. A sort of yellow pages for all sorts of trauma.
I fail to see their use now.
Which is why I cringe when they sre suggested to people in trauma

It's still infuriatingly hard to find people to talk to (with your voice) Diana.

human googlers for organisations that can help

That's actually a good idea!

I think the 'phone the Samaritans' advice is similar to 'phone women's aid' in that most people don't understand what they can do or what they provide.

The Samaritans can only provide a listening service. It's a service staffed by trained volunteers and their remit doesn't go beyond listening.

For some people that's brilliant, having someone able to listen and care when other avenues aren't available.

If people expect them to offer advice or intervention - they can't offer that so the caller will think they're unhelpful or shit or whatever.

I don't think it's a bad thing to suggest someone call them when someone is in immediate crisis and they don't know what else to suggest because maybe it's the middle of the night and the post isn't getting other responses.

It's general education that is needed around what non - profit agencies can provide that is needed (including women's aid as I mentioned in a PP of mine) but it's something someone can suggest on a thread if it's the early hours and they're the only person responding on a thread of a suicidal poster.

'Ask your neighbour'

This has made me laugh. Thanks. Just off to book my spa day after LTB :-)