“A suicide hotline can give a suicidal person someone to talk to. I don’t want to downplay the importance of that. When someone needs someone to talk to and nobody is available, providing that service is obviously good, if it is done well. Some hotlines, such as the trans lifeline, (created by and for trans people) specifically have a policy that they will not call emergency services without consent.
But talking is not enough. If a person’s suicidality is rooted in poverty, racism, trauma, isolation, or some other form of oppression — talking alone can never solve that. It can get the person to survive to the next moment. But it won’t make the causes of their suicidality go away.”