Mental health support line launched

China plans to launch a national mental health support hotline to provide high-quality and convenient services for people in need, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

The hotline number — 12356 — is expected to be put into use around New Year's Eve or Spring Festival and be accessible nationwide starting on May 1, the commission said in a statement released on its official website.

It added that each city-level region should set up at least one hotline and each hotline should be equipped with at least two operators at the same time for at least 18 hours each day.

Through the hotline, receptionists will provide mental health education, psychological counseling and support, as well as cope with emergency mental health needs.

Efforts will also be made to link the mental health hotline to the nation's hotlines for police, fire and first aid, it said.

An increasing number of people in China are grappling with mounting mental pressure and mental health problems with the nation's fast economic development, rapid urbanization and a deepening aging trend, said Xing Ruoqi, deputy director of the commission's department of medical administration, during a news conference held on Wednesday.

"With growing awareness of the hotline, we also request local governments to increase reception capacity and improve services gradually," she said.

Xing added that the commission has guided general and pediatric hospitals to set up outpatient clinics dedicated to psychological counseling as well as train general medical staff about mental health knowledge so that they can help detect and intervene in psychological issues while treating other illnesses.