The suicide line is only able to answer seven percent of all calls

Before the turn of the year, more than 16,000 people a month called Suicide Line. After the turn of the year, this figure is just over 23,000 people per month. The biggest increase among those trying to reach the suicide line is, according to Mind, in young adults between the ages of 15-24.  

 - Globally, this is a group that has more mental health problems when growing up. Young people must receive full grades, it is crucial for them to have a positive future. We also worry about rising unemployment among young people. They must be able to support themselves, says Karin Schulz. 

Until the turn of the year, there was also the National Helpline, which was funded by SKR, the Swedish Municipalities and Regions. It was an emergency telephone for people in crisis and about 30,000 calls came in to the helpline every year. In January this year, it was closed after SKR announced that they would no longer be responsible for the financing. 

- We are seeing increased pressure on the Suicide Line since the turn of the year and this may be an effect of the National Helpline having closed down, says Karin Schulz. 

In April and May, about twelve percent of the calls related to concern were linked to the corona.

- It is about the effects of corona, many people have had mental disorders before and can get worse mental problems from dropping everyday routines. But then we also have concerns about financial security, that you are afraid that you will be unemployed and we believe that we will see the effects of this ahead, says Karin Schulz.

In March, Suicide Line had its highest peak in the spring with just over 25,000 attempts to make phone calls. Of these, 1,600 reached one of the telephone line's volunteers. The suicide line also has an email and chat contact where you reach significantly more than those who arrive on the phone.

Although both the number of hours as the telephone line itself is open and the number of volunteers, to approximately 500 people, has increased, only seven percent of the telephone calls to the Suicide Line reach a volunteer.

- It is very frustrating and alarming. This is something we struggle with. We see that many need support and we need more resources to be able to scale up. If anyone were to say that we got 25 million, we could have recruited and staffed for it. We have laid the whole foundation for it, says Karin Schulz.

Anki Sandberg is the chair of the National Collaboration for Mental Illness (NSPH), which brings together thirteen different interest groups, and is critical that there is no national coordination for call support over the telephone. 

- There should be a single telephone number that you can call when you need support in a crisis situation. There are a plethora of guides, but it is not easy for the individual to know where to call, writes Anki Sandberg in an email to SVT News.

About the statistics: The suicide line can't make a difference between the number of people and the number of calls trying to reach them - some people are recurring and then appear several times in the statistics.