Suicidal residents have been dialling the police hotline for help as Guangzhou has yet to implement a 24-hour psychological crisis helpline, reports Yangcheng Evening News.

The police hotline, "110", handles about 500 calls from suicidal people every year, even though staff answering the phones are hardly qualified to provide counselling.

One woman told the newspaper that she felt a strong desire to kill herself every night during a recent distressing period in her life but did not know where to seek help. She finally worked up the courage to visit the psychiatric department of a hospital one afternoon but was told the doctors were fully booked for that day.

"It's really scary. Are we supposed to put our suicidal thoughts on hold until a day when the doctors can see us?" she asked.

Guangzhou needs to set up a 24-hour suicide prevention hotline urgently, said Feng Guangyu, director of the Guangdong Psychological Health Institute.

More than 5,000 calls have flooded a similar hotline in Beijing since it was launched in April.

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