#AtoZChallenge in China: Depression

In today’s #AtoZChallenge, let’s talk about depression, in connection to World Health Day on April 7.

When I covered a recent open house of a local hospital in Beijing, I got to talk with a physical therapist about injuries and office ergonomics. During our conversation, he shared with the media group that one of his expat patients in Singapore struggled with depression. The businessman, the therapist said, had an injury somewhere that needed treatment. He worked for a big multinational company and lived an affluent lifestyle, staying at a grandiose flat and owning a race car. But all of a sudden, his life went into a standstill as he was a casualty of his company’s retrenchment.
The businessman continued treatment despite having lost his job. From the recollection of the therapist, his patient changed in a matter of weeks, first coming in the hospital neat but later on became lethargic to the point that he almost cut off all communication. The therapist said he felt concerned that he went beyond his role and asked how his patient was. There he learned his patient was fine though living in a horrible situation.
A few weeks ago, the death of a controversial artist caused a stir in the arts scene in China, just as similar as his artworks were. Twenty-nine-year-old artist Ren Hang was found dead, with one report saying he committed suicide by jumping off a building.
Back home, I remember a story about a teenage guy who committed suicide. The reason? Authorities and the victim’s family said the student couldn’t take the pressure in school and social expectations.
These three stories were all about depression. It can happen to anyone. Even to those who have the clearest and most optimistic of minds can experience it.
D is for Depression
Actually, this isn’t my original topic for D. I intended to talk about ditie zhan (or subway station in Chinese) but felt depression is a much more important discussion. Also, I am planning to write an article for beijingkids about depression, in time for World Health Day.
Earlier, I talked to Xiaojie Qin, founder and executive director of CandleX, an organization and support group for people struggling with depression in Beijing. She said CandleX’s website (currently inaccessible) and WeChat subscription account contain a wealth of resources and stories about depression. There, I found out that Qin herself had battled depression after a relationship breakdown. But she found the courage to ask herself about the condition she’d been going through. That realization made an impact and changed her perspective on life.
Introspection is something that’s very difficult to do, especially when someone is so preoccupied with the busyness and hustle of daily living. If that itself is a challenge for people suffering from depression, what more is talking to someone about what they feel?
Qin told me that the top reason why expats in Beijing experience depression is linked to high turnover rate in their careers, or what I call as “expat shelf life.” In a recent peer review, Qin said that among 30 percent of participants who had depression were foreigners of different professions and nationalities.

According to Qin, what’s interesting is that there are international students who struggle with depression because of peer pressure and high expectations (the same reason as the story I shared), and that awareness in schools about student depression is very limited. I asked her how young depressed students can get; she replied that young kids between the ages of junior high school and just prior to entering college are susceptible to depression as they have probably achieved enough understanding and awareness of what’s happening in their daily lives.
Having said that, Qin, through CandleX, is actively advocating more mental health programs for young people at schools and educational institutions. The value of letting young students and adults know that someone is listening is a way to tell them that their problem is not only theirs to bear alone.
There’s still struggle in that part, a blog on CandleX WeChat account explained. Knowing the right moment and right people whom to tell someone’s depression is one consideration, while what and how to tell that condition is another. (For more discussion about it, search the organization on WeChat by typing in “CandleX.”) While I’m no psychologist, I believe that each case is unique and methods of dealing with depression vary from person to person. It may depend on medication or how patients are viewing the reality, or even how people around support them. It’s a very fluid topic but the fact is there’s hope. Remember the first story I mentioned in the beginning of this post? According to the therapist, the businessman has restarted his treatment and is now going to a “long” recovery phase.
I’ll end my discussion with a video from the World Health Organization about depression. I’ve been told that WHO will post a documentary about depression on Friday. I will upload it here once it’s online.

 
Thanks for reading up to this far! In tomorrow’s #AtoZChallenge: Chinese Adventure, we’ll look into the combination of vibrant architecture and structures in Beijing that are giving a boost into its megacity tag.
Featured photo from Huffington Post.