When the black dog bites(2)

The Beijing Psychology Help Hotline, funded by the city's municipal government, and the Beijing Anding Hospital Hotline, which is staffed by mental health experts, both lend a helping ear to those eager to talk about their depression.

"The problem is that people who know they are depressed will go to hospitals, yet those who don't know they are living with depression are far less likely to seek help," said Wang Gang, director of the Beijing Anding Hospital Depression Center.

Around 60 percent of people suffering depression do not seek help, the China Mental Health Association found in a 2005 study.

The social stigma attached to depression and family pressure are major obstacles preventing sufferers from seeking help, said Dr He, noting this persuades many youths in particular to vent their anguish on social media.

"A lot of people equate depression with suicide or a mental disorder. People think once you are diagnosed as depressed you are likely to commit suicide, which leads others to dread being around people with depression," he said.

For parents who know little about depression, the worst advice they can give their depressed child is to cheer up or snap out of their glum mood.

"This can cause [depressed youths] to manifest negative feelings towards their family and dare not tell others about their problem," Dr He explained.

People battling depression often feel they have little alternative other than suffering in silence, said Yuan Yipeng, a patient of Dr He's who has attempted suicide several times.

Yuan, a former employee at IBM, made national headlines when he filed an unfair dismissal lawsuit against the company, which terminated his employment in 2007 after learning of Yuan's depression.

"Some doctors recommend patients diagnosed as depressed to make public their condition to receive effective help from their company, family and friends, but many are afraid they might lose their jobs, much like I did," Yuan told Metro Beijing.

"I once was told by the medical supervisor at IBM that my biggest mistake was making my illness known to the company."

More professional help

The biggest problem in China regarding the treatment of depression is the extremely low diagnosis rate, said Wang Gang.

"According to a survey in 2005, 90 percent of people with depression in Beijing weren't diagnosed or didn't receive treatment for their depression. The situation is dire in Beijing, the capital with the country's best medical resources, let alone smaller cities," he said.

In recent years, the government has gradually come to grips with the scale of the epidemic and major hospitals nationwide have opened psychological clinics, said Wang Gang.

However, he noted the biggest problem was that these clinics are mainly staffed by neurologists, rather than psychologists. Another key barrier that needs to be addressed is the cost to patients for counseling and professionalism of counselors, said Wang Weimin.

An hour-long counseling session in Beijing costs at least 300 yuan ($48), although qualifications for counselors in China are relatively easy to attain compared to many other countries.

Among the 300,000 qualified counselors in Beijing, few meet the high standards demanded by the industry, said Wang Weimin. "Instead of providing professional aids that can help patients overcome their depression, many [counselors] just spend their time chatting," he said.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact the Beijing Psychology Help Hotline on 800-810-1117 or the Beijing Anding Hospital Hotline on 5830-3063.