Treating Depression in China

Treating Depression In China

Sias University
Henan Province, China
March 13, 2012

Today, I had to give a presentation to my students about depression.  There were maybe 300 students in the audience and it was too large a crowd to talk about such a sensitive topic.  Most of them really weren't interested in the topic but the Prevention Center is seeing more evidence of it. And there was a thought that a presentation on the topic by an American would be better received.

When it came time to answer questions, the students were slow to ask me anything.  The language barrier is always tough and the sensitivity of the topic also limited any interaction.  But then one student nervously raised her hand.  She needed some clarification about what I had said.  Sometimes she feels sad, lonely and confused.  Did I think she suffered from depression? I told the student that if she thought she was depressed, she should discuss this matter with her family doctor.  The student thanked me for my advice, nodded and then politely sat down. And then another student raised her hand, “In America, in your country, does everyone have a family doctor?” she wanted to know.  And then there was an undercurrent of discussion about the question.  And it dawned on me that they didn’t know what a family doctor was.

I had a professional counselor from the University Prevention Center with me who informed me that none of them had a family doctor.  None of them go for regular physical exams.  If they need medical help, they go to the hospital and wait in line and maybe they get help.  The man from the Prevention Center then told the students that they should go to the psychiatric hospital if they thought they suffered from depression.  The hospital is about 1 ½ hours away from the university.  He thought it was slightly better than the local hospital.  Then he told them that they probably wouldn’t get medicine there either because it just wasn’t accessible in China.  Finally, he told them that the most viable solution for any of these college students who may suffer from depression was to come to the prevention center and get some help from college students who have been trained to be peer counselors.