Each year, roughly 800,000 people die of suicide worldwide. Nearly two millions have suicide thoughts or failed attempts. Suicide has been a public health concern. It is not an accident, but arises from an imbalance of the “pulling force” (e.g., happiness, meaning, connectedness) and “pushing force” (e.g., pain, meaninglessness).
In faced with this situation, the Hope Line “希望热线”, a professional NGO and NPO, was established in China in 2012. Being a unique quantitative suicide intervention system, it includes 24/7 phone counseling 400-161-9995 (secondary and tertiary prevention), public lectures and theater performances (proactive primary preventions). There are 31 Hope Line Intervention Centers across China with over 1000 volunteers. Hope Line has answered over 200,000 calls (total over 41472 hours), and given nearly 1000 public lectures in communities. In 2017, 71 theater performances were delivered across China by volunteers, serving 19,295 people. Hope Line educates the public to capture others’ suicidal signs and strives to keep the person in concern safe from suicide death. It is featured on various top media in China and on NHK in Japan.
Though suicide prevention is a heavy topic, the learning of it can be engaging.