Weird Swedish Helpline priest falls asleep during suicide call for help

[The Helper]

A suicidal man connected to a Samaritans-style helpline in Sweden was left pondering his options when the priest at the other end fell asleep and started snoring down the line.

The suicidal man called emergency services at around 2am on Friday, saying he felt "psychologically unstable". He was forwarded to the duty Church of Sweden pastor. About five minutes into the call, the troubled 44-year-old man had the feeling that he was talking to himself.

"I thought maybe he was taking notes, so I asked: 'Are you taking notes?'" the man told the Barometern local daily.

"I could hear his heavy breathing before he woke up," he said.

Helpline priest falls asleep during suicide call for help

A suicidal man connected to a Samaritans-style helpline in Sweden was left pondering his options when the priest at the other end fell asleep and started snoring down the line.

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[thewrongvine]

Why is he angry? He saved his life.
So selfish...

~Hai-Bye-Vine~

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

i cant really blame the priest. i got a call at 3am once. i was half asleep when i was talking and think the conversation went along the lines of "sdffdgsasadasd...." cant fully remember thats what im guessing. mom asked me who called the nest morning and i did not know.

 

[Wummi]

i cant really blame the priest. i got a call at 3am once. i was half asleep when i was talking and think the conversation went along the lines of "sdffdgsasadasd...." cant fully remember thats what im guessing. mom asked me who called the nest morning and i did not know.

I think the priest is still to blame, because the line is probably a 24 hour line which means people take shifts monitoring the line. Now if your shift is a night time shift, then you should have slept before the shift, instead of falling asleep during it.

 

[Samael88]

I think the priest is still to blame, because the line is probably a 24 hour line which means people take shifts monitoring the line. Now if your shift is a night time shift, then you should have slept before the shift, instead of falling asleep during it.

Sometimes that does not help at all. I don't think you have any understanding about first of all:

1. How hard it is to not get sleepy when you are working telephone jobs.
2. How completely boring most of those psychological talks can be.
3. How repetitive it gets after just a few minutes.

I can say that I am a very patient man, I can sit and wait for the bus for 4 hours sometimes with absolutely nothing to do, but these kind of things can get me sleepy in minutes. I understand the priest and that mans response is just ungrateful

 

[Seprest]

Why the helck would they put him on with a priest? Cops should have came over and done an assesment of him and advised him to go to the Emergency room or such.

 

[Darthfett]

Why is he angry? He saved his life.
So selfish...

~Hai-Bye-Vine~

How did he save his life?

Why the he[del]l[/del]ck would they put him on with a priest? Cops should have came over and done an assesment of him and advised him to go to the Emergency room or such.

Maybe he asked for the priest? Some people are religious, why wouldn't they ask if they wanted to talk to someone? Perhaps the operator thought the caller didn't sound like he was right about to commit suicide, only thinking about it (so a bunch of cops going to the guys house wouldn't do anything but terrify him).

This is completely unacceptable for such an important role.

 

[FireCat]

This is completely unacceptable for such an important role.

Yeah, I agree

 

[The Helper]

Suicide Hotline Failure!

 

[thewrongvine]

How did he save his life?



Maybe he asked for the priest? Some people are religious, why wouldn't they ask if they wanted to talk to someone? Perhaps the operator thought the caller didn't sound like he was right about to commit suicide, only thinking about it (so a bunch of cops going to the guys house wouldn't do anything but terrify him).

This is completely unacceptable for such an important role.

Well I'm not saying it's acceptable at all, but this was a special case.
It's like fighting fire with fire or detoxing. The man was angry and depressed and thought of suicide, and the priest falling asleep turned his anger away to another cause.

He said, "It's not acceptable for a priest to fall asleep in the middle of a call; this should not happen when you call up in search of help..."
That's hope. He's already thinking about other people, how they would feel if it happened to them. It's change.

I'm just saying, at least the man's alive eh? I mean, instead of just focusing on the suicide hotline failure. :O

~Hai-Bye-Vine~

 

[FireCat]

I'm just saying, at least the man's alive eh?

For now. But would he call again a Zzzzzz help?
It would be the same thing, If you call 911 and you didn't get any help,
Just because someone fall asleep in the middle of a call.

 

[Wiseman_2]

I shouldn't laugh, but this really reminds me of this scene in Red Dwarf:

Rimmer: "I used to be in the Samaritans."
Lister: "I know. For one morning."
Rimmer: "I couldn't take any more."
Lister: "I don't blame you. You spoke to five people and they all committed suicide. I wouldn't mind, but one was a wrong number! He only phoned up for the cricket scores!"

 

[Dan]

maybe it was a tactic? the guy didn't kill himself right? let's not JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS!

haha

well maybe the pastor was one of those 90 year old guys that is holding the job down... now you feel bad?

 

[ElderKingpin]

wow, anger > depression.

 

[Ninva]

I think the priest is still to blame, because the line is probably a 24 hour line which means people take shifts monitoring the line. Now if your shift is a night time shift, then you should have slept before the shift, instead of falling asleep during it.

Or, a priest is given a helpline to monitor for 24 hours. Do you know what a priest is demanded of? I'm not Catholic, but I don't think any of you are being fair to the priest. He may have a different story. We should make sure each pastor has a decent, scheduled shift for manning the helpline. A 24 hour shift is not acceptable.

 

[Darthfett]

Or, a priest is given a helpline to monitor for 24 hours. Do you know what a priest is demanded of? I'm not Catholic, but I don't think any of you are being fair to the priest. He may have a different story. We should make sure each pastor has a decent, scheduled shift for manning the helpline. A 24 hour shift is not acceptable.

Ninva's got a point. I think at my Church, my pastor has emergency calls to the church forwarded to his cell phone. Then again, it's also still a bit unfair of a rule for the church to have.