And on Monday the Jersey Samaritans marked their national awareness day – Talk To Us – which encourages people to use their listening skills.
Last year branches across Britain received 5.7 million calls and were contacted every six seconds.
Mary Burnett, director of the Jersey branch, said that calls from those wanting to take their own life was something they dealt with regularly.
Figures show that in the UK someone takes their own life every 90 minutes and suicide is the biggest cause of death for people aged between ten and 34.
Now the charity is offering a text service in the hope of reaching out to more younger people.
Mrs Burnett said: ‘The text service seems to appeal to a much younger audience and has done really well since we started using it. People always have their phones on them and it can be a much easier and quicker way of reaching our services for many.’
Mrs Burnett said that people called the charity for a number of different reasons.
‘There will be people who call us who are desperately lonely. We have calls from people who are dealing with things that have happened to them in the past and want to speak to someone anonymously.
‘We speak to people who are scared about the current state of the world. We get calls from people who are waiting for appointments if they have mental health issues, or results from a health test when they might be concerned about something,’ she said.
During this year’s awareness campaign the charity is sharing its own listening tips, using the word SHUSH. Each letter stands for a different tip: show you care; have patience; use open questions; say it back; and have courage.
The Samaritans can be contacted free of charge on 116123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org, or at the Jersey branch in Hue Street, opposite the Magistrate’s Court.
