The Lifeline volunteer who answered the phone may never know what happens to the caller next. 

Bendigo volunteers Debbie and Bob give their time freely to listen to people from all over Australia sharing their mental health concerns or their suicidal thoughts. 

Both have deeply personal reasons for doing what they do – Debbie has volunteered for the past eight months and said her mother suffered mental health issues, while Bob has been picking up crisis calls for 16 years, after his friend died by suicide. 

They know they are well-equipped to deal with the harrowing stories they hear. 

“We hear everything – from childhood abuse to domestic violence, to loneliness to illness,” Bob said. 

“We get callers talking about parental abuse, suicide, mental health, and a lot of third-party callers, where they are worried about someone else who is suicidal,” Debbie said. 

“You need to accept that you might not know what's going to happen,” Bob said. 

“But you've done what you're supposed to do and the rest is up to the caller.” 

Their role is crucial: every hour, seven people attempt suicide. 

Debbie said the anonymity – with Bendigo volunteers picking up calls from all over Australia, not locally – has a big impact. 

“They're never going to have to see us and think, ‘that person knows my deepest darkest thoughts’,” she said. 

“They can say things they're not allowed to say.” 

Bob said callers told him things they had never told anyone before. 

“It’s like sitting in a dark room and talking,” he said. 

The key, they say, is to not judge and to not take the emotional distress on board – to hear the issue, but not experience it. 

“If you worry that it is having some sort of impact on you … there is always somebody to call,” Debbie said. 

When the people trained to listen need someone to listen to them, there are mentors, paid by Lifeline, who counsel them – even while they are still on the phone to a caller. Lifeline: 13 11 14.