(Corrects transliteration of names in paragraphs 3, 15 and 16)
By David Kirton
SHENZHEN, China, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of 24-hour mental health support telephone hotlines have sprung up in China in recent weeks as millions of people fret about catching the coronavirus - and try to avoid infection by staying at home.
Medical professionals welcomed the launch of several official services in a country where mental health remains a relatively taboo subject, but cautioned that unofficial talk lines could do more harm than good.
"There are a lot of hotlines out there staffed by a lot of volunteers but it just doesn't make sense because there’s not many that can be well-trained," said Cui Erjing, a Seattle-based volunteer for one of the hotlines, who is originally from China's Southern Guangdong province.
"It can be really traumatising to ask for support but not get the right responses."
A survey by the Chinese Psychology Society published by state media last week found that of 18,000 people tested for anxiety related to the coronavirus outbreak, 42.6% registered a positive response. Of 5,000 people evaluated for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 21.5% had obvious symptoms.
The hashtag #howtodealwithfeelingveryanxiousathome has been trending on social media platform Weibo, with more than 170 million views, as misinformation about the spread of the disease and travel bans feed public worries.
HOTLINES OVERWHELMED
The hotlines are part of the government's "first level response" for dealing with the psychological impact of major health emergencies, a strategy that was first deployed following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a disaster in which 87,150 people were killed or listed as missing.
The National Health Commission said more than 300 hotlines had launched across the country to provide mental health advice related to coronavirus, with support from university psychology departments, counselling services and NGOs.
They have been inundated by callers in a country which has just 2.2 psychiatrists available for every 100,000 people, according to WHO data, five times fewer than in the United States.
A national hotline run by Beijing Normal University was overwhelmed when it went live at the end of January, said Cheng Qi, a Shanghai-based psychologist.
While the number of calls has dropped as other lines opens, the content has become more challenging, Cheng said, noting one caller with chronic depression who had reported suicidal thoughts triggered by the barrage of bad news.
"It’s not the virus [that caused it], but the virus is stimulating it," she said.