Suicides have become the fifth most common killer of Chinese every year. As the issue gets more serious, the nation's capital of Beijing has launched a free helpline in an attempt to reduce the number of suicides in the country.

The hotline service of the Beijing Psychological Research and Intervention Centre. To improve and monitor the service, the conversation will be recorded, but will be kept secret.

By dialling 800-810-117, one can hear those softly spoken words first before the psychological health consultation. The call is free and around the clock, and the line is often busy.

Ms. Ni is one of the consultants for the hotline.

"People keep phoning in. Most of them are psychologically depressed. What we usually do first is to listen to them speak, and then give them advice."

The consultant says depression can cause many complications and can even lead to suicide.

An appalling fact is that up to 300,000 people take their own lives every year in China. At the same time, two million others survive suicide attempts.

Psychologists say the mounting pressure on people in the modern society accounts for the increasing number of suicides.

Some believe the hotline can serve as a temporary buffer to the social phenomenon, and is helping to gain time for a systematic solution.

Liu Neng is from the Sociology Department at the Peking University.

"The issue of suicide is a big one which is not going to be solved through a helpline. However, the helpline does have certain effects, but they are very limited."

In western countries, one out of every 2,000 people works as a psychological professional. But in China, that figure is one in 200,000. Experts suggest after such an attempt as setting up a hotline, more efforts by social workers and community should follow in order to better tackle the problem.

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