TONGUE-TIED

City’s new health help line speaks wrong language

SOME NEW YORKERS are crying out for help — and getting a response in Chinese.

The city’s texting hotline for people with anxiety, depression and substance abuse problems has had some serious issues of its own since launching this week — including responses in Mandarin for English callers.

Those in crisis are told to text “Help” to the NYC Well number at 651-73 to be connected with a counselor or “peer specialist,” which is someone who uses his or her experiences with mental illness or substance abuse to provide guidance.

But the line, part of First Lady Chirlane McCray’s mental health push, has been malfunctioning for days.

A Daily News reporter who texted “Help” to test the hotline immediately got an answer back in Mandarin.

After several attempts, The News got instructions to text 1 for English, but when the reporter did that, the service didn’t respond. Instead, it sent the same message — to hit the number one for English.

Repeated texts for “help” over several hours Thursday were met with Mandarin, until finally just over two hours later the service gave instructions to reach a counselor.

The glitches aren’t just annoying. Mental health experts say they are dangerous because it’s putting an already fragile population in jeopardy.

“That’s worse than no response,” said Carlene MacMillan, a Brooklyn psychiatrist who communicates via text with her patients when necessary. “They’re going to feel like they asked for help and no one responded.”

She said helping people by text is a “great idea,” but it has to be done right.

“It’s not like calling the cable company,” she said. “It can’t be like that.”

After the Daily News contacted the city to inquire about the problems, officials texted to the public, “We’re working on fixing a glitch with the #NYCWell texting service.”

The text urged those in need to call (888) NYC-WELL or chat at nyc.gov/nycwell.