The voices of reason

Ma Junwei, an operator at the Beijing 12355 hotline, gives a mental health awareness lecture to students at a rural women's training school in Beijing. Mental health service hotline operator Su Wei will never forget a call he received from a woman in Wuhan, Hubei province, when the city was mired in the battle against the first COVID-19 outbreak. He was one of the nearly 100 counselors around the country working for the 12355 hotline specifically assigned to offer support and address the psychological needs of people in Wuhan during the peak of the outbreak in early 2020. "When she told me she was sorry and had to hang up, I was quite happy, not because of what I did, but because the call helped her realize there were many people ready to help and support her," Su says, smiling.