Robert began calling Telecare in 2020, during the pandemic. We learned that he had been living

on his own already due to a messy divorce from his wife and being “written off” by two

daughters. Robert shared that he misses his family immensely and wants to reconcile with

them. We affirmed that reconciliation is a worthy goal but not always possible.

Robert also shared that his work as a secondary school teacher has become “troubled” due to

student complaints and parents sharing what they hear to school administrators. Robert is

convinced he has intended no harm in applying his classroom rules, so at times feels people are
ganging up on him. We try to empathize with Robert’s situation, as he has few people he can turn to,

especially during the pandemic lockdown.

More recently, he has made attempts to keep his daughters but feels they don’t give him a

chance. Robert says he’s prone to drink more when already feeling low, and he’s concerned he

might harm himself or others.

During one call, our call responder did a lethality check to learn if he had a plan, had the means,

and asked if he had any family history of suicide. Thankfully, his response registered a ‘low risk’

result, and our caller was able to ask Robert what options he had to feel better. In the end, he said

he’d eat and go for a walk. When asked if he had anyone else he could talk with (besides us), he said,

a male teacher friend. In this case, we encouraged him to do all three, and later he called to say he

was doing a little better.