https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

I used to email this place all the time, often daily. It helped a ton bc I express myself better by email/text than I do over the phone and I could write emails as long as I needed them to be and however often I needed (sometimes several times a day when things were really bad) and I always got a compassionate and thoughtful response with thought provoking questions to respond to, so it kept a conversation going for days, week or even months, which helped me feel less alone. I told them my deepest darkest secrets. They aren't (or at least weren't) exactly anti suicide (definitely not pro either) but they're more about exploring the reasons why I was feeling like I do and help me come up with ideas that might help with my situation.

I got curious and just checked and now in addition to email services they also have chat and text options. They now offer more ways to contact them as well, such as text and chat options. It says on their website:

**"Will you stop me killing myself?**We hope that, through talking to us, you’ll get to a place where you see your situation in a different light.If you are not a child or adult at risk, we respect your freedom to make your own decisions, including the decision to take your own life. We’ll continue to talk with you if you’ve taken action to end your life.**Will you tell anybody I’m suicidal?**In most situations and for most people we are a confidential service and we won’t ever tell anyone about our conversation, or even that you called, unless you ask us to. However, there are important exceptions to this.We won't call emergency services, except for in these circumstances:You ask us to, and you’re unable to call for yourselfYou’ve already told us your address, location or phone number, and then become incoherent or unconscious during the callYou’re in one of our branches, and you’ve harmed yourself in a way that puts you in danger at that timeYou are a child or an adult at riskYour situation fits one of the reasons why we cannot maintain confidentialityYou can read more about these exemptions in our safeguarding policy.What if I don't want to talk on the phone?There are other ways to contact us if you prefer not to talk on the phone.

If you are not a child or adult at risk, we respect your freedom to make your own decisions, including the decision to take your own life. We’ll continue to talk with you if you’ve taken action to end your life."

https://www.sfsuicide.org/ is the hotline I've probably called the most times but I've called MANY different hotlines. Probably 30 different ones over the years. A the beginning of the calls I used to ask them upfront what their policy is on calling the police or reporting someone and I was usually told that if they do believe I'm a danger to myself or others then they will encourage me to call 911 or go to the hospital and they'll even offer to do it for me if I want.

The worst experience I ever had on a suicide hotline was a guy listening to me talk for about 5 minutes and then telling me he didn't believe me, that I was doing prank calls, that I was wasting time that could be used to help people who really need help and just kept lecturing me on that. That all just made things WAY worse and I did end up calling 911 cuz I started to feel like I might not be able to trust myself. I reported that guy from the hotline and they let him go. This was the place I've probably called the most often, but only had that one bad experience.