Here2Talk

I was in the beginning stages of a mental health crisis and I decided to reach out for support through the app. When they asked for the reason, I stated “suicidal ideation.” I recall the connecting person making some odd comments about that. He asked if it was serious or something stupid like that. After waiting for over half an hour, I asked the person trying to connect me with a counsellor if I should try elsewhere. After this, he finally told me that there were no available counsellors and asked if I’d like to reconnect later. Honestly, here2talk needs to state that they cannot support people struggling with their mental health. Extremely disappointing. Not sure what the point of the app is or why it’s pushed so much in school if it’s literally useless.

I swear, these counsellors do not understand that not every little thing is a risk factor for $uicide. They are actively perpetuating the very reason that people do not reach out for help. Please do not choose these people to confide in.

Every time I have tried to connect I have found a massive lack of empathy or understanding from whomever is answering the app. No options are given about what resources or support is available and I have twice now implicitly been told that the workers are unhappy to have to do their jobs, whatever that job might happen to be- it’s very vague. Who is getting paid to do this work and are there actually real accredited counsellors with degrees or..? Very unhappy that this is supposed to be a government run initiative, but also not surprised that they’d manage to create such a useless “initiative”

I don't know how I could cope without the support of counsellors from Here2Talk. I'm very grateful for the availability of this service.

The app itself is fine, and when I call for support the initial greeter is always extremely polite. However, I would absolutely not recommend relying on this in crisis. I’ve called in multiple times for support and have been put on a callback list every time, but they never call. Maybe I just have horrible luck, but if you need support don’t rely on this app. (I’m sure it’s due to staffing and I genuinely have every sympathy, but I still wouldn’t recommend this app. )

When I press “Start Chat” it doesn’t start the chat.

Good app good people