Loneliness alarmed: Telephone pastoral care lists record calls!

Loneliness alarmed: Telephone pastoral care lists record calls!

Bochum, Deutschland - In 2024, telephone counseling was a crucial point of contact for people who were looking for support in crisis situations. This year, telephone counseling registered around 1.2 million calls, consistently compared to the previous year. The conversations often revolved around loneliness and family conflicts, often reported callers that they had spoken to no one for days, such as Ludger Storch, the chairman of the telephone pastoral care Bochum. It was particularly striking that there were significantly fewer men among the approximately 7,000 callers. Sepp Gröfler, the head of telephone counseling, suspects that shame could be the reason that men less often ask for help in difficult times.

acute situations and digital advice

of the calls were about 800 real acute situations, in 250 cases it was about suicide or fears of suicide. In order to help the callers, the 97 volunteers try to show positive perspectives and find solutions. The offer will continue to be expanded because many children and young people are also looking for help - in 2024 around 600 calls were recorded by young people. In addition to support by telephone, messenger advice will also be offered in the future, which will be specifically responded by the needs of the younger generation. This should reduce the inhibition threshold to talk about their problems.

The current global concerns, such as inflation and conflicts, are also reflected in the conversations. Storch reported that the fears of the world situation often create a cloudy mood in the calls, even if the direct occasion of the conversation was a different concern. The need for social interaction and support has increased significantly in times of decoupling through digital media and during corona pandemic. According to Gröfler, this creates a "path hearing company" in society, in which listening is forgotten. This can be seen in the increasing number of callers who long for an open ear, and in the 45,000 contacts by email and 39,500 chats, which were documented this year, as from information from Ärzteblatt .