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    By who you are · 9 tips

    Living alone

    If something happens when you live alone, nobody notices right away. These are arrangements you can make in advance, plus basic safety at home.

    1 Someone who will notice

    After a major blow

    If you have no relatives and no friends, replace “the person who keeps watch on you” with three things: a neighbor who can get into your home, the community's visit list, and an emergency contact in your phone

    When you have no relatives and no friends, there are two things to cover: that someone will find you if something happens, and that you take your medicine and eat on time. For medicine and meals, rely on yourself: write a checklist and set alarms, and don't rely on memory. For someone finding you, there are three things: leave a spare key with a neighbor, ask the residents' committee whether you can be put on the visit and care list, and set up an emergency contact on your phone and keep it switched on.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    Going abroad, travel and safety overseas

    Before leaving the country, send your itinerary, lodging and travel companions to a family member and agree how often to check in

    If you lose contact abroad, your family can turn to the embassy or consulate, which will tell them how to report to the police locally and will press the case once it is registered. This assumes someone in China knows where you should be and when you should be in touch. Sending the flight number, address, travel companions' phone numbers and how often you agreed to check in to one family member is enough.

    • High value
    • Evidence C
    • Buys life
    Don't die early

    When a suicidal thought comes up, tell one person near you first, and hand over those next few dozen minutes

    In one set of interviews, nearly half of the people who survived a suicide attempt said that no more than 10 minutes passed between the thought first appearing and acting on it. Three-quarters had some contact with people around them during that time. Among people admitted to hospital for self-harm, about 2% died by suicide within 1 year and about 7% after 9 or more years; the great majority did not later die by suicide.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    After a major blow

    To have someone talk with you, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline); minors and teenagers call 12355 (national youth integrated service platform); to see a doctor, register at a psychological clinic

    If you want someone to talk to, call 12356, the national psychological assistance hotline, which is free. For minors and teenagers there is also the 12355 youth integrated service platform (青少年综合服务平台). To see a doctor, register at the psychological clinic of a psychiatry, psychology or clinical psychology department. When there is a family upheaval, unemployment or dropping out of school, community grid workers and social workers are supposed to reach out on their own.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money

    2 Safety at home

    Don't die early

    Install smoke alarms; if you burn coal or use gas for heating indoors in winter, add a carbon monoxide alarm

    A working smoke alarm cuts the chance of dying in a house fire by about 60%. In U.S. house fires where someone died, 40% started while people were asleep. If you burn coal or use gas indoors in winter, add a carbon monoxide alarm. In China in 2018, 11,500 (1.15万) people died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and in the 3 winter months, about 70% of those deaths happened at home.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Fit good locks on doors and windows, put a motion-sensor light outside the door, and really lock up when you go out: these are what prevent burglary, and an alarm alone shows no benefit

    Data from Britain show that homes with door locks plus window locks had only one-twelfth the chance of someone getting in and stealing, compared with homes with nothing installed. Adding a motion-sensor light outside the door brings it down to about one-thirtieth (三十多分之一). Installing only an alarm and nothing else shows no evidence of preventing burglary. This covers theft, not robbery when someone is at home.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    • Disputed
    Don't die early

    Don't push an e-bike into a stairwell or elevator, and don't charge it at home

    Parking an e-bike or charging it in the lobby, corridor or stairwell of a high-rise residential building is expressly banned by a regulation of the Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部). If you don't correct it, an individual is fined 500 to 1000 CNY and a business 2000 to 10000 CNY. The fine is the small part. What matters is that this kind of fire starts in your only escape route.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Buys life

    3 Money

    Don't waste your money

    Build an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses first, and keep it where you can withdraw it at any time

    Keep 3 to 6 months of living expenses in a place you can take it out at any time. Then when you lose your job or get sick, you don't have to borrow at high interest, such as by making only the minimum credit card payment, and you don't have to sell your investments at a loss. Money in a bank is covered by deposit insurance, up to 500,000 (50万) CNY at the same bank.

    • High value
    • Evidence C
    • Saves money

    Related

    This site arranged the groups and order on this page; the tips come from the book. About