Hotline eases nation's mental strain

When a woman in her 20s called the national mental health hotline in distress in the early hours of a June morning, a counselor on the other end listened carefully and guided her through steps to identify the cause of her ordeal and practice basic coping mechanisms.

"She realized that it was drastic changes in her living environment and family disputes that caused her anxiety and was taught some easy and effective relaxation techniques," said Zhang Qing'e, vice-president of the Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University. "By the end of the call, she said she felt much better and gained a new perspective on tackling current challenges.

"The case has demonstrated the newly launched hotline's role in offering psychological support, emotional relief and cognitive guidance," Zhang said.

Beijing is among the first regions nationwide to launch the hotline earlier this year as the nation strives to bolster mental health services amid a rise in mental health challenges affecting the public.

Since May 1, the 12356 hotline has been operational across all 31 provincial-level regions, fielding over 500,000 calls in total, said Li Dachuan, deputy director of the National Health Commission's medical administration department on Friday.

Zhang, the hospital vice-president, said that Beijing now operates nine phone lines in the daytime and two lines at night. Beijing Anding Hospital is one of 16 medical institutions managing the 12356 hotline in the city.

"The hotline offers a range of services, including mental health education, counseling, emotional support and crisis intervention," Zhang said. "Most callers seek help to address problems in personal relationships and family conflicts, and their most common symptoms are anxiety, depression and sleep disorders."

By June 30, the city had received over 22,700 calls, or an average of 125 each day. The peak hours are between 6 pm and 10 pm, she said.

"The hotline has effectively addressed the urgent mental health demands of residents, particularly young and middle-aged adults, and has become a critical psychological support channel for them," she said.

Setting up the national hotline represents part of a broader push to expand psychological services.

Li, the health official, said that psychological clinics are now available in 330 municipal-level regions, and sleep disorder clinics have been set up in 324 such regions.

The nation has also organized more than 4,600 mental health lectures, reaching more than 900,000 people, he added.

Strengthened efforts have also been dedicated towards increasing the capacity of psychiatric clinical care and nurturing more psychiatrists.

Xu Min, deputy director of the Health Commission of Shandong province, said that 111 out of 136 county-level regions in the province now have dedicated psychiatric hospitals, and all counties can offer inpatient mental healthcare.

Meanwhile, the province has trained over 800 psychiatric physicians, increasing the number of psychiatrists per 100,000 people to 5.8. It has also launched training for 25,000 grassroots mental health workers, he added.

Xi Zhimiao contributed to this story.