141 calls in first 5 months of this year compared to 83 calls from Aug-Dec 2018
KUCHING: Calls to Befrienders Kuching by emotionally distressed persons are on the rise.
The non-profit organisation received up to 224 distress calls from August 2018 till May this year.
Dr Mirunaaleni Selvaraju, 33, a medical doctor from the state Health Department and an active volunteer with Befrienders Kuching, said since the establishment of the organisation here in January 2018, and the operation of a suicide prevention hotline in August the same year, the number of calls has increased.
“For the last five months of last year from August to December we received 83 calls. But for the first five months of 2019, there were 141 calls,” she said.
Most of the callers were females and the highest prevalence was among those aged between 21 and 30.
“Almost one third reported that they had suicidal thoughts and five per cent were at active risk of suicide,” she added.
Dr Mirunaaleni has been actively handling calls from those who reached out to Befrienders Kuching for help.
She said the organisation has also expanded its services to e-mail counselling and the number of e-mails received is quite high too.
From January to April this year, the number of e-mails received were 178, which also showed a high number from female senders and from the age group of between 21 and 30 years old.
“Sometimes, we do not ask for their age because we respect their confidentially.
“Unless there is an emergency where a person is attempting suicide, we will get their personal details, but ensure they are protected,” she said.
Dr Mirunaaleni stressed what was important is for the volunteers to listen to their callers and detect if they have suicidal thoughts.
“Most of the callers and e-mail senders are lonely or isolated, followed by those with broken relationships, financial issues, family problems and health issues.”
Befrienders Kuching receives zero to five calls in a day, and receives e-mails every day.
Befrienders is a worldwide non-governmental organisation which provides a hotline where members of the public who have suicidal thoughts or suffer from distress can call volunteers who provide emotional support.
The hotline number is 082-242800 and e-mail is sam@befrienderskch.org.my.
Currently, Befrienders operates from 6.30pm till 9.30pm from Monday to Sunday.
