A Big Challenge: The Tension Between Compassion and Costs
There are a number of virtues that underlie the mental health field. Perhaps the greatest one is compassion. The vast majority of clinicians are compassionate people. They provide care at discounted rates to those in need. Some even provide free or pro bono services. However, the reality is that many clinicians cannot afford to give as much as they would like because they have real costs like rent, electricity, and other bills.
As a result, there is a natural tension between compassion and costs. Our mental health system has not really found a way to scale compassion without also scaling corresponding costs.
This is where peer support volunteer services like 7 Cups can play a role. We have not told this story in the past in this level of detail. We feel it is important to begin to tell this story as it better highlights the work all of you dedicate yourselves towards. It also shows how the tension between cost and compassion can be decreased.
7 Cups has reached over 73 million people. Over 570,000 volunteer listeners have provided 35,011,527 hours of support across 189 countries in 140 languages. Think about this, 35m + hours is the equivalent to:
1,458,813 Days
208,402 Weeks
3,997 Years, supporting those in need
If you were to begin to put a cost on these services it would look like this.
@ $1/hour = $35,011,527.33 ($35M)
@ $5/hour = $175,057,636.65 ($175M)
@ $10/hour = $350,115,273.30 ($350M)
@ $25/hour = $875,288,183.25 ($875M)
@ $50/hour = $1,750,576,366.50 ($1.75B)
@ $75/hour = $2,625,864,549.75 ($2.63B)
@ $100/hour = $3,501,152,733.00 ($3.50B)
@ $150/hour = $5,251,729,099.50 ($5.25B)
We all know the statistics. We are losing a person to suicide every 40 seconds. Depression, anxiety, addiction rates are all up and climbing. The solution is compassionate care. Compassion is indeed the best medicine.
How do we scale compassion?
Clinicians donating their time can help address the challenge. Free and volunteer support services can also play a key role. There are likely other solutions as well. Broadly, it is clear that we need increased compassion to help address our collective mental health challenges.
@GlenM
We are living in the age of silent crisis – a mental health endemic.
That's why I'm so thankful for services like 7 Cups,
which open the door to support, connection and healing.
Just knowing there are alternatives and people ready to listen – it can make all the difference!!
Thank you to everyone out here working hard
to make mental health support more accessible.
💙
☕️
🤲
@GlenM
These numbers are eye-opening. It's phenomenal what we've been able to offer at little to no cost, thanks to the selfless efforts of our caring volunteers. You all so kindly offer your time and energy to supporting people in pain, and that's why our humble platform continues to thrive. You help make compassion accessible.
This post demonstrates how we are directly addressing the critical need for mental health support without the barrier of cost, and I hope everyone reading this sees their individual and irreplaceable value here as part of our community.
@GlenM
Am I crazy or is it weird that we have to pay for compassion? Compassion should be our natural state- to neighbors and people around us. It's so weird compassion is used to pay bills.
@GlenM it's amazing to see the actual numbers in black and white. That is unbelievable and it's great to have people who genuinely care and the impact of this community has reached far and wide, touching the hearts and lives of millions and im honoured to say even a small part in that legacy 🥰
@GlenM
These are astonishing numbers, thanks for sharing them so everyone can truly understand the situation. I am grateful for being part of this community!
@GlenM wow those statistics are shocking🙁 so Thank you to all the hard work and hours you and the team put in to this site 💖 Thank you to all listeners and to all members that ever helped someone💖💖 Glen this site saves those suicide rates from going up, thankyou💖💖
I guess we all are aware that 7 Cups has made and continues making a huge contribution to many people’s lives.
Each of us has anecdotal evidence, the life stories we have direct knowledge of, of how powerful this contribution might be. Literally life-changing in many cases. An invaluable contribution for those whose lives were touched by 7 Cups, with such a powerful positive impact.
But those numbers give us an objective measure of the aggregate contribution that 7 Cups makes. A measure that goes way beyond the limited subjective appraisal each of us can make based on direct knowledge.
Those are huge numbers! I can read them and understand them, but they are beyond my capacity to conceive in my mind such a vast amount of time of people getting support.
A support that can’t be found in any other place on Earth, due to the (forever insurmountable) limitations of the standard approaches to mental health and emotional support, that you explain so well.
Thank you, Glen for creating this amazing opportunity to channel in an effective way the compassion of thousands of volunteers, and members who support each other, day after day for years, making the lives of so many people so much better!
@GlenM
Thank you for giving me a place to make friends. Friends who get me. <3 (You know who you are) <3
I am a Master in Psychology student and a Behavioural therapist as well, I feel that I have learnt a lot in the 10 years volunteering as a Listener and am currently enrolled in an internship here as well! I love 7 cups of tea! Kudos to all the volunteers
Thank you so much for writing this post. It really puts in perspective the level of dedication and help 7 cups has provided over its course and the impact it has had on people. I truly wish more individuals were like yourself. Or that I would be able to have more individuals as ambitious and helpful as yourself in my life. The reason I say that is because it gives me an aspiration to work towards. Since the beginning and being a teenager I always sought to be as such. As the years and difficulties surmount on one another it becomes harder and harder to live by this ideal. I always wondered how impactful 7 cups is, and pondered these questions from time to time. Providing answers in detail is magnificent. I wish greater things can come about and better future can be had for everyone. I suppose we begin the work with ourselves. Thank you for being a contributing factor to the betterment. Really gives me hope and to remind me of what really is important in life regardless of what we do as work. Being better individuals first and foremost and living by helpful ideals such as care, love and compassion for one and all. I know this is only a post, but I do write this from the depths of my heart. I write this just so that I can get my own experience out there. Some individuals really do struggle, and I being one of them currently. It’s quite shocking and surprising how things can take a turn. I used to be the one providing all of this support and never really struggled until I fell down. And when you are down it is very difficult to find the same support I used to provide to individuals/living by a standard online or offline. Just as an individual. It’s quite enlightening when one puts their focus and effort toward a goal such as helping because it removes all distractions and difficulties in the world and you start to see the beauty and all else and about starts to get better and better. Thank you once again for being a part of that change, truly glad the 7 cups service exists. And thank you for your words of enlightenment once again. Thanks for making a difference
