Incheon City Provides 24-Hour Trauma Counseling Support for 'Itaewon Tragedy'

Incheon City Hall

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City announced on the 1st that it will provide psychological recovery support to citizens suffering from trauma related to the crush accident that occurred in Itaewon, Seoul, on the 29th of last month.

The city operates a 24-hour mental health counseling hotline (1577-0199) that citizens can call anytime in case of a mental crisis. This counseling hotline uses a nationwide common number and connects callers to mental health professionals at the relevant metropolitan and local mental health welfare centers.

Services provided include ▲ suicide crisis counseling ▲ mental health counseling for depression, anxiety, etc. ▲ mental health information and guidance to psychiatric medical institutions.

The city reported that 18 Incheon citizens who suffered mental distress due to the Itaewon crush accident contacted the counseling hotline over two days, from the 30th to the 31st of last month.

Among them were not only citizens who were at the accident site but also cases of psychological trauma caused by indirect exposure through photos and videos on the news or the internet.

More than 80% of users of the mental health counseling hotline (1577-0199) are mobile phone users. To enhance accessibility, the city plans to increase the number of operating lines from 5 to 15 by the end of December and establish a daytime mental health counseling hotline (1577-0199) routing service to improve response rates.

An Incheon city official said, "Based on our experience dealing with citizens' mental health crises related to disasters such as COVID-19, we will continue to provide mental health services."

Meanwhile, considering that more than 80% of the hotline users are mobile phone users, the city plans to increase the number of operating lines from 5 to 15 by the end of December to improve the response rate.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.