Editing Crisis hotline (section)

{{short description|Service providing immediate emergency telephone counseling}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}

{{Suicide sidebar}}
A '''crisis hotline''' is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency [[telephone counseling]], usually by trained volunteers. The first such service was founded in England in 1951 and such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the English speaking world at least since the mid-1970s. Initially set up to help those contemplating [[suicide]], many have expanded their mandate to deal more generally with emotional crises. Similar hotlines operate to help people in other circumstances, including [[Rape crisis centre|rape]], [[bullying]], [[self-harm]], [[Runaway (dependent)|runaway children]], [[human trafficking]], and people who identify as [[LGBTQ+]] or [[intersex]]. Despite crisis hotlines being common, their effectiveness in reducing suicides is not clear.<ref name=Sak2011/><ref name=Zal2016/>