China’s mental health counsellors reach out online to help those affected by coronavirus pandemic
- Chinese users spent 20 per cent more time on physical and mental health apps in the first week of March compared with the same period in January
- KnowYourself brought together a team of over 100 professionals and trained volunteers to reply to calls for help from people in need
The company brought together a team of over 100 professionals and trained volunteers to scan messages sent in by people in need, offering them text-based psychological counselling as well as the option of support via video and voice calls.
The demand for mental health care “has kept the team fairly busy … they sometimes discuss certain tough cases late into the night,” said Zhao Jialu, a KnowYourself partner in charge of the company’s psychology team.
Another consequence of the rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which as of Friday had sickened well over half a million people and killed more than 24,000 worldwide, is that patients, medical staff and even those not infected by the disease have experienced mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and stress.
Zhao witnessed first hand how public sentiment changed as the pandemic evolved.
“When it first broke out, fear and anxiety were awakened in people due to the sense of uncertainty about the virus,” she said, adding that feelings of shame were also common among medical workers when they could not save patients or were not sent to the front lines like some of their colleagues.
