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Beijing hotlines to help address suicides ( 2003-08-12 16:33) (CRI.com ) 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. 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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