A teacher in Minnesota shared a video of herself on TikTok sharing a recent frustrating call she had. When a friend got in touch because they were worried about a family member, enough to warrant a call to her local crisis line. What they weren’t expecting was the agent to be seemingly unwilling to take the situation seriously.
The video was posted by TikTok user Callmemoprah, Moriah, who was also the one involved in the call. A friend of hers had gotten in touch with her over an underaged family member of theirs and was seeking help. Moriah makes the call, noting that she had to repeat her situation multiple times, with the agent frequently forgetting names, spelling errors, getting people mixed up, or just outright being unprepared.
The conversation was further derailed with the agent’s numerous meaningless questions and suggestions. The parents of the young boy couldn’t make the call themselves due to a language barrier. As if the agent couldn’t be more unhelpful, they ask Moriah if her friend could “calm down” her family member. According to Moriah, de-escalation was already tried, hence the call.
When Moriah asks how long it would take for someone to show up, the operator, who knew a minor was involved, tells her she doesn’t take cases involving children. “I don’t know. I’m not working with them,” the operator states. Moriah thought she might have called the wrong number, but it was in fact for people under 18. The operator confirms this and suggests calling 911, which only frustrates Moriah further.
The operator seemingly relents and, according to Moriah, says, “Well, I guess I can reach out to the child team and see if they have anybody available.” They don’t and wait time could be up to two hours. Moriah hangs up, relays the information to her friend, hoping she can calm her male family member down. Otherwise, 911 would have to be called.
People Online Shared Their Own Stories Of Unhelpful Crisis Line Operators
In the comments of Moriah’s TikTok video, viewers were just as frustrated as her, wondering why the agent seemed so reluctant to help. You would think someone working in such a sensitive position wouldn’t be so cavalier, especially when it involves a child.
Among the top comments, a TikTok viewer shared her bad experience with a crisis line. And it was particularly delicate given that she had made the call seeking help for herself. They spoke of calling multiple numbers and being put on hold each time. It happened enough that she gave up, “I was so annoyed, I wasn’t even in crisis anymore.”
Another commenter was irritated that the agent would suggest calling 911. “Cops only escalate situations. WTF,” they wrote. Though police can have CIT programs, mixing firearms with people having a mental episode can be a recipe for disaster.
Two commenters, who claimed they worked for a crisis line before, were really bothered by all the negative comments and apologized. “It’s not supposed to be that way by any stretch of the imagination,” one wrote, while the other noted an issue with national hotlines. Either you’ll get an operator with “adequate training” or a “not so good place.”
There’s the problem: if you work for a crisis line, you should be treating the job like 911 dispatcher .When commenters on TikTok, many of whom have called a crisis line for help—and several calling 988 out especially—are sharing horror stories of agents sounding annoyed or unhelpful, they’re in the wrong line of work.
