Back in 2018, I posted a list of suicide prevention hotlines in Kuwait. I updated the list again in 2020 with more numbers but today I realized those numbers not only no longer work but have rotated back into the public and are now owned by other people. I called the Kuwait Center For Mental Health and asked them if they had a suicide prevention hotline, that call turned out to be a joke.
The guy I spoke to didn’t understand how a hotline would help a suicidal person and told me the person needs to come to them. So after explaining to them the benefits of having a hotline, he said the person should seek help from his family who will then bring them to the center. I thanked him then hung up.
So now I need to update the list of numbers but I’m at a dead end, I think most of the information might be available online but in Arabic. In any case, if you can help me update the list of numbers, get in touch with me.
26 replies on “Help Me Update the Suicide Prevention Hotlines List”
The lack of empathy in this country is incredible.
yeah, it’s really frustrating. But I guess if things like roads which people interact with and complain about on a daily basis aren’t getting fixed, nobody is really gonna care about the lack of a suicide prevention hotline.
Not everything is the US we should have a carbon copy here. If you need help, just go to there location. We’re a small country, it’s like a 15min drive to save your life. And it’s very confidential, no one will know if you went.
Having a suicide prevention number is not a “western” thing so you can relax, it’s not haram. People who are thinking of committing suicide will most likely not be in the state to drive themselves to a mental hospital at 3am or at anytime of day. They also might not be old enough to drive or not have a car or a million other reasons.
A phone number to call or WhatsApp is the easiest thing a person can do when needing help.
I mean don’t compare services in a continent to a town…
Besides how useful is it really? Go sit with a real professional face to face, for FREE!!
Unlike other places where they will send you a bill to make you wish that you just killed yourself. Which system has more empathy?
If whatever reason you still refuse to go, there are many private doctors here that you could just call/watsapp.
Politics aside, a simple call could be the last shred of hope someone has before giving up. If the counseling associations kept up with the times then a suicide hotline would definitely exist. May we be cared for and protected. Ameen Amen.
I don’t understand why you think this only exists in the US. People committing suicide from depression is a global issue.
Is Cyprus small enough for you? They have a suicide prevention hotline, Fiji, Iceland and Liechtenstein, all tiny, neither located in the US, and all have suicide prevention lines.
Your lack of empathy and understanding of the subject matter makes you look like you’re trolling. “Go sit with a professional”, yeah someone about to commit suicide is going to want to schedule a session for next week with a therapist 🤦🏼♂️
I think this “T” is the guy you mentioned you spoke to on the phone as he sounds just a fony as that person, and shows the lack of understanding the whole point of what you’re trying to achieve here.
People like him are the reason why folks will not come out to speak about their issues as he clearly would just make them feel weak instead of consoling them.
T, 90 percent of your existence is a carbon copy of the west. If you want to pick and choose what you want to “carbon copy” Why not choose something valuable instead of starbucks for example.
I really do not understand how this country gets awards for being humanitarians, all while there is no basic support for humans here, treat most of the expats like trash.
+1 for requirement for a Suicide prevention hotline, however it would be important to have an extremely well trained & competent person on the phone as a handler.
Just wondering, would using any American or British hotline numbers work?
Probably through Skype?
it’s really an important issue and i want every person reading this blog to contribute by searching/googling/asking and lets try help Mark creating this important list
If we want to make a difference in the world, we have to start with ourselves first.
I have seen you time and time again accept bullying comments in your comments section. I have seen people say really awful, nasty things to other people on this blog, things that can definitely lead someone to harm themselves, and you’ve allowed it.
It’s your blog, you can accept or reject any comment you want but for some reason, you allowed those comments to go through.
Fact: cyber bullying has lead to many people around the world to kill themselves.
I have to strongly disagree with you here. I allow people to have disagreements because that’s normal, but I do delete all hate and personal attacks. The amount of shit I have to read and filter, a lot more than you’ll ever see, I do it to keep nasty things off the blog.
If one comment slipped through my moderation then it’s an exception and you could share it with me here and I’ll remove it. But to make it sound like my comment section is toxic is completely untrue.
Do you consider random strangers telling others to go back to their countries or calling them names like “weirdo” or “gandu (the Indian “F” word) to be personal and hateful?
Because I have seen those comments over the years in your comments section.
Please be kinder.
Strangers telling other commentators to go back to their countries? It’s a meme, no one says this on the blog seriously anymore, at least not for the past 10 years. Maybe one or two people might have said that in a serious manner and were quickly shut down by other readers.
Regarding the use of the word “gandu”. From the 253,435 comments approved on the blog, there have been only been 4 instances of the word. One is your comment, two were related to a person’s username (Ganduism) and the 4th was a users email. There is not a single comment where gandu was used to insult someone.
So once again, if there is a comment that slipped my moderation share it, but stop spreading misinformation.
Ok, whatever you say.
I apologize.
The real question here is who will be on the other end of that hotline? Do we have capable altruistic people that can be available 24/7 responding to calls and actually capable of directing someone to a safe mental space?
Good point. We need more awareness about suicide prevention in this country, one call could make the difference between life and death.
Thank you for bringing this to light Mark. Don’t worry your blog isn’t a breeding ground for toxicity. I actually enjoy reading the diverse comments here.
can we get a phone and share it between us? whoever is willing can hold on to it for like a shift or two? can we set up something like that? or like a discord or group that would be easy to join? or like a website where you get the number of whoever is on shift, through some like anonymous app or something? help each other?
i know we’re not exactly professionals but something is better than nothing right?
im just thinking out loud. its just really horrible and no one wants to do anything about it. no one gives a shit about the things that actually matter. i dont know. maybe im just rambling.
Trust me, you wouldn’t want me on the other end of the line if you called
Perhaps you could send links of hilarious comments & replies on your blog for them to change their mind and think of all the comedy they’ll be missing in their life 😀
If a non-professional handles the other side of the conversation, it would almost certainly lead to the caller committing suicide. Professionals are trained and talented enough to know the right words to use and the right questions to ask. As bad as it looks (not having a suicide hotline or having an ineffective one), we must keep campaigning to bring this to the notice of authorities.
I found this account on IG https://www.instagram.com/suicidehotlinekuwait/?hl=en
Its not active and has no posts but maybe you could DM them or something? I tried looking for other options in Arabic but found nothing.
Thanks for your efforts Mark