Bournemouth Samaritans See Rise In Calls

17 March 2010, 06:05 | Updated: 17 March 2010, 06:37

The number of people speaking to Bournemouth Samaritans because they're feeling suicidal has gone up by more than 50%

The helpline had over 26 thousand calls last year from people feeling depressed or who were thinking about ending their lives- that's an average of 71 every day. It's risen from 17,672 calls in 2008.

They're also getting more people using their drop-in service at their branch in Durrant Road and an increase in emails from people needing help. Use of their text number had the most dramatic rise, doubling from over 5,000 messages sent in 2008 to well over 11,000 last year.

Janet Isaac from Samaritans in Bournemouth says the increase is partly down to more people having money worries:

"The recession has got something to do with it. If you have got severe personal problems and then added to that you've got financial problems sometimes people feel they can't cope." 

Janet also told Heart more men are getting in touch asking for help:

"It's actaully quite pleasing to see the numbers of men increasing. Women have always been able to talk about their feelings but men don't, they bottle it up and therefore become more depressed in the end than women."

Bournemouth Samaritans can be contacted on 01202 552999 / 08457 909090 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org