Trump admin horrifies with training on suicidal callers: 'That's not the thing you say'
By Matthew Chapman
Published February 13, 2026 8:13 PM ET
Mental health experts are aghast at the training Social Security Administration workers are receiving from the Trump administration on how to handle suicidal callers.
According to Government Executive, "SSA recently began shifting new swaths of its workforce to phone answering duty, including those who normally receive and process retirement and disability claims, manage the agency’s technology and work in the agency's finances unit. Those employees received brief, three-hour training before they began answering calls. As part of that training, they were warned some callers may express suicidal ideation and presented with examples using a theoretical employee named Fiona."
In a video obtained from the training, an animated instructor tells the employees, “It's important for Fiona to keep the caller engaged and to remind her that suicide is only one option, and that there is no urgency to make any decisions.”
https://www.rawstory.com/social-security-2675268818/
