When the black dog bites

A round 20 mourning family members and former classmates gathered on Saturday for a memorial service at the University of International Business and Economics in Chaoyang district to bid farewell to Sienna (pseudonym), a young female alumnus who committed suicide following her bout with depression.

Moments before midnight on February 17, Sienna left a haunting suicide note on her Sina Weibo account under the username "siennasaina" before plunging to her death from a building. She stated she would take her life because she could no longer cope with her depression, which was only diagnosed before Spring Festival this year.

"Depression is too painful and my world has become dark and twisted. I can no longer feel any happiness, no matter how hard I try," Sienna, who was born in 1987, wrote in her farewell post.

Growing epidemic

Sienna's suicide shocked her family and close friends, who remembered her as an intelligent woman interested in fashion, finance and travel. However, her microblog posts also revealed she battled insomnia and fear of discrimination over her depression. Sienna, who was originally from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, worried that seeking treatment for her condition would place a psychological and financial burden on her family.

Sienna's final post, which was forwarded more than 18,000 times by press time, was met by universal sorrow from her friends, medical professionals and microbloggers who sympathized with her private anguish.

China has one of the highest suicide rates in the world – more than 22 out of every 100,000 deaths – with those aged between 15 and 34 most at risk, according to 2011 figures from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2005, 26 million people nationwide were diagnosed as clinically depressed, according to the China Mental Health Association.

However, today this number likely exceeds 60 million, based on estimates by He Rihui, director of the psychological department at the Guangdong General Hospital of Armed Police.

Dr He has called for more understanding and help for people suffering depression in the wake of Sienna's death.

"There are no concrete statistics about how many people suffer depression [in China] now. From my own observations, the number has soared over the past two years," Dr He told Metro Beijing, citing the growing trend of suicides publicized on social media.

On March 17, 2012, a finance senior at a Nanjing university committed suicide in her campus dormitory after posting a suicide note that automatically uploaded to her Sina Weibo account the following day.

Six months earlier, Beijing police successfully prevented the suicide of a model who uploaded a farewell post accompanied by a photo of pills she planned to overdose on.

Wang Weimin, a psychiatrist at the Beijing Sunshine Journey Psychological Counseling Center in Haidian district, said he was devastated though hardly shocked by Sienna's suicide, noting pressure from work, studies and relationships can sometimes push youths over the brink.

"A major source of pressure for young people, especially new college graduates, is finding a job," said Dr Wang, 34, who has been in his profession since 2005.

"Anxiety and nervousness, which can lead to depression, often arise during job-hunting, and such symptoms are more prominent among females."

Suffering in silence

For sufferers unwilling or unable to access professional counseling or be prescribed anti-depressants, hot lines offering free counseling can be a lifeline.