Peer Support

I would have benefited so much from friends who knew how to say more than, "you should see a counselor" or "are you taking your meds?" I don't blame them; we don't teach people to do much beyond call the cops if someone is having a mental-health crisis but the effects of essentially forfeiting our need for companionship and friendship over to law enforcement and professionals we *pay* to listen to us has not resulted in an increase in healing and wholeness for those experiencing mental and emotional distress. I would love to learn and see us teaching our kids how to companion their friends when they hit hard times instead of seceding the hallowed ground of staying present with someone to cops and counselors. What are the alternatives to calling the police, which has resulted in so many deaths that my state has recently passed a law making involuntary commitment much easier, when someone is in acute distress? What are ways we can rehabilitate this notion of friendship to mean more than people who go to the mall or movies together but, when difficulties arise, refer us to professionals who require payment to listen to us?