
heavy use of or dependency on alcohol or other drugs.painful and/or disabling physical illness.loss, including loss of a friend or a family member through bereavement.If what’s getting to you isn’t on this list, please still get in touch. You could be going through something new or have been struggling to cope for some time, either way, we're here if you feel you need some extra support. People contact us with all sorts of concerns and what might be a small issue to you may be huge to someone else. We will need your name and address to reply, but to maintain confidentiality, your letter will be shredded once we have sent you our response. This is to respect your privacy and the confidentiality of your visit, unless you wish to recognise it. In the unlikely event that you see the Samaritan volunteer that you spoke to later on the street, the Samaritans volunteer will not acknowledge you, unless you do so first. You don’t have to tell us your name if you don’t want to. If you've emailed us, your email address will not be shown to the volunteer.

We might ask your name, because it’s a natural question to ask in a conversation, or because of something you have said to us, but you don’t have to tell us if you prefer not to. The phones we use don’t have caller display information on them. When you call Samaritans, your number is not displayed to our volunteer.

Yes, except for in certain situations where our safeguarding policy means we may tell someone, for example, by calling an ambulance.
