Life Line calls increase tenfold

Press, 18 May 1984, Page 10

Life Line calls increase tenfold

Since Christchurch’s Life Line began 20 years ago, the number of telephone callers has increased from 750 to more than 7500 a year. Mrs Ngaire Johnston, the director of Life Line in Christchurch, said the increase was a sign of the increased pressures and stress of the times. In the year ended March 31, 1984, the centre took 7817 calls, almost 1200 more than in the previous year. The number of calls from lonely and psychiatrically disturbed people had increased twofold in the last year, up to 1862 and 601 respectively, said Mrs Johnston. The number of calls from depressed people was more than 1000 for the year. The increase in calls from people expressing suicidal ideas was a reflection of

these numbers, she said. Life Line received 360 calls from people talking about suicide last year, 100 more than for the previous year. Calls from people threatening and having attempted suicide totalled 49 and 19 respectively. The last two figures were similar to the previous year’s. Mrs Johnston attributed the increase in such calls to the fact that many people were isolated in the community. She commended the establishment of neighbourhood care centres as a means of fighting this isolation.

The increase in calls from psychiatrically disturbed people might be related to the fact that more people were being treated for psychiatric problems in day clinics rather than being hospitalised, said Mrs Johnston.

Life Line had many regular callers, particularly people who were lonely or psychiatrically disturbed and needed extra support to help them through bad stages.

The ages of only half the callers were recorded and these indicated that most calls came from people between 20 and 35 and over the age of 50. When Life Line held its inaugural ceremony on June 30, 1964, no-one could have

visualised how much the centre would grow, said Mrs Johnston. The Christchurch centre was the first in New Zealand and the third in the world. It was established under the guidance of the Rev. Wilf Falkingham, then superintendent of the Methodist Central Mission, to provide a helping service which would be available to all people at all times of the day, she said.

the model for the centre was Life Line in Sydney. A second centre opened in Adelaide shortly before the centre in Christchurch. There were now hundreds of centres in 10 countries, including the United States of America and Canada, said Mrs Johnston. The tenth New Zealand centre would open in Blenheim in July.

The New Zealand centres had formed a national association and were also members of Life Line International. The International association set minimum standards for the selection and training of counsellors.

In the early days the Christchurch centre consisted of a much smaller group of counsellors. Thirty counsellors manned the telephones in solo shifts, she said. It took time for the community and professionals to

gam confidence in Life Line. There was some resistance from professionals until they realised Life Line had no intention of usurping their roles but provided a complementary service. The number of calls increased in the first 13 years, said Mrs Johnston, but dipped slightly with the advent of the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and other help lines. Calls to the centre were increasing again, she said.

Although Life Line was “the baby” of the then superintendent of the Methodist Central Mission, the centre had maintained an ecumenical and community base, said Mrs Johnston. Support came from all facets of the community, as did the calls.

Mrs Johnston has been with the centre virtually since its inception, joining 19 years ago. She was appointed full-time director 3Ya years ago.

Mrs Johnston and two part-time social workers offered face-to-face counselling if it was requested by callers.

Five of the now 72 counsellors had worked at the centre since it began, Mrs Johnston said, and many had been with it almost as long.

Most counsellors stayed

at least five years, and usually left because of outside commitments and not out of lack of interest, she said.

Training for counselling involved a 26-hour course, said Mrs Johnston. “The counsellors are not just listeners but trained to help people get through a crisis point,” she said. The assistance offered depended on “how far the caller wanted to go,” she said.

Most people found the telephone call sufficient to help them over a difficult time, but for those with a more deep-rooted problem help from either the face-to-face counselling service or other agencies was offered.

In potentially critical situations the trouble team was sent out, said Mrs Johnston. This team consisted of 15 senior counsellors who worked on a roster system in pairs.

These days the trouble team was called out far less than in the early days, which was an indication of the skill and success of the telephone counsellors.

Life Line has now handled more than 100,000 calls. How many lives has it saved in its two decades? “We wouldn’t know,” said Mrs Johnston.