The SOS Voz Amiga Line will provide 48 consecutive hours of service to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, celebrated on September 10. The initiative, running from 00:00 on Wednesday to 24:00 on Thursday, represents an additional effort requiring great generosity from volunteers. The SOS Voz Amiga association, considered the oldest emotional support line in Portugal, founded on October 9, 1978, provides support to people suffering from loneliness, anxiety, depression, or suicide risk, normally operating every day between 15:30 and 00:30. In 2025, the line handled 11,000 calls and currently receives an average of a thousand calls per month, with an average duration of 20 minutes.
The president of SOS Voz Amiga, Francisco Paulino, particularly warned about the situation of men over 60, who rarely seek help despite leading suicide statistics. According to cited statistics, in every 100 suicides, 80 are men and 20 are women. Francisco Paulino attributes this situation to the idea that "men don't cry, men don't show suffering," emphasizing that without talking about problems, suffering tends to increase.
The calls to the line come from people between 12 and 80 years old, mostly concentrated in the 35 to 55 age group. Between ages 12 and 25, help requests are predominantly female, and it is in this age group that suicidal ideation is most evident. Among younger boys, particularly between 12 and 14, complaints related to bullying and lack of family support arise. Above 60, it is women who call most to chat and vent about loneliness, while men in this age group practically do not contact the line.
Francisco Paulino argued that loneliness deserves political attention, suggesting the creation of a secretariat for loneliness, as exists in England, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In Portugal, according to official figures, three suicides occur daily, although it is believed the real number is higher due to stigma that sometimes causes the cause of death to be masked. The responsible party also warned that waiting times for mental health appointments remain high, creating a vicious cycle where demand for help increases while response capacity remains limited.
