The 12356 hotline helps middle-aged women to overcome their marital difficulties, reflecting their psychosocial needs for emotional understanding, professional support, mobility guidance and self-validation. In a case such as ms. Lee, over 40 years of age are trapped in “widow parenting” and “widow marriage” and long periods of unpaid work and unreciprocated emotions lead to depression, confusion and self-doubt。
After calling the hotline, she gradually emerged from her difficult situation, which reflected the hidden psychological desire of middle-aged women to overburden their family responsibilities。
Emotions are seen: rejection of emotions
Many middle-aged women play the roles of “magic mother” and “nurse” in marriage, and their physical and mental fatigue makes them restless, but they wonder who to tell. The hotline provides first and foremost a safe emotional exit. The consultant listened patiently and softly confirmed her emotions:
"it is perfectly normal for you to suffer so hard, so much, so much, so much pain and fatigue."
This strange understanding and common sense has allowed long-standing emotions to be released. More crucially, it meets their most basic “visible” needs — the scarce emotional recognition within the family — to make them realize that their feelings are not unreasonable, but a real dilemma。
According to liu rini, deputy director of physiophysics, hunan 2nd people's hospital, the persistence of this “emotional neglect” situation leads to psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and even physical discomfort. It is these feelings that have long been denied。
Cognitive re-engineering: jumping out of self-doubt
Middle-aged women in marriage difficulties are vulnerable to “self-aggression” and feel that the problem is that they “do not do well enough”. The role of the hotline is to provide a professional perspective to assist them in cognitive reconstruction. The consultant's analysis of family relationships, stress adjustment, etc. Made it clear that there was a general but unhealthy pattern of distribution of family responsibilities, which was rooted in structural imbalances rather than individual failure。
This “de-self-contained” attribution helps them stop their internal consumption and strip themselves of their self-worth from endless domestic work and spousal recognition. Dr. Laurini stressed that when a person is overloaded for long periods without support, the body sends a dangerous signal and self-doubt is one of the psychological warnings. The hotline provides them with a professional analysis of the nature of the problem, which is the first step towards change。
Action empowerment: regaining control of life
Understanding the problem, how to change is a greater challenge. The hotline provides concrete operational support to help them move from “passive to” to “active change”. For example, at the advice of the consultant, ms. Lee began to try:
These are the forces of “small steps to change” that allow them to regain the initiative of life. The hotline, which serves as a unified national channel for psychological assistance, provides a free service of 7 x 24 hours, year-round, ensuring accessibility of support. In henan province, even the “12356 psychological hotlines have served no fewer than 30,000 people throughout the year” have been listed as a matter of public interest, reflecting the social response to mental health needs。
Ms. Lee's life has changed by many telephone calls: mentalities are no longer denied, methods are learned to communicate effectively and priorities are given priority. She said, "it's clear to me what to do." this hotline not only addresses individual problems, but also reflects a group's deep desire for emotional bonding and self-control during marriage transition。
