Two million Shout conversations: Saving lives at scale through the power of technology

Our new report, Two million Shout conversations: Saving lives at scale through the power of technology, reveals insights from the two million conversations we have taken with 675,000 people in mental health distress.

The report, with a Foreword from The Prince of Wales, reveals how:

• Shout is able to reach and help people who have not found support anywhere else; those who prefer to text rather than talk about private things (48%), who want to talk discreetly to someone who they don’t know (48%), or who simply don’t have anyone else to talk to (55%).
• Shout’s busiest hours are between 10pm and midnight, when many other services or support mechanisms are not available.
• Shout reaches people in all corners of the UK, many of whom are those most at risk of poor mental health. Vulnerable audiences served by the service include people living in poverty, those who identify as LGBTQ+, neurodiverse people, pregnant women and new mothers and people in the criminal justice system.
• Shout’s digital platform appeals to young people, with 62% of texters aged under 25. Three-quarters of texters are female, reflecting the rapid decline in poor mental health in girls and young women.
• Suicide is the most prevalent issue Shout texters are facing (38%) and the service plays a significant role in UK suicide prevention, de-escalating risk for texters and partnering with Google to signpost those at risk to our 24/7 support.
• Shout’s technology enables people to volunteer from home, with real time advice and guidance from an expert clinical supervision team and the service has an extraordinary virtual community of over 2,000 volunteers.
• Mental Health Innovations uses groundbreaking data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyse Shout’s text-based, anonymised conversations, understand the data and use it for social impact.