Coco Lee Man Photo: VCG

 

The suicide by famous Chinese-American singer-songwriter Coco Lee Man after a long-battle with depression made a splash on Chinese social media platforms, thrusting  "smiling depression" into the spotlight, a form of depression in which a person feels anxious but hides it with a fake happy face. 

"Coco, you were a born star with excellent talent and unique personal style, your voice, your dance and your bright smile affect so many people. You have given so much to the world. One more star goes to the sky now, and I wish there won't be any more disease or pain for you. Rest in peace," Hong Kong action movie superstar Jackie Chan wrote in a post on Sina Weibo on July 6 to mourn Lee.

The news of Lee taking her own life shocked fans, who continued to flood Lee's Weibo account to say goodbye to their beloved artist who always impressed the public with big smiles and positive energy.

One fan said, "I hope this is fake news. Coco, you have fought for yourself, you are a warrior." The last post on her account was on on May 20 to advocate her new song - Fight for Yourself. 

"Although Coco sought professional help and tried her best to battle depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her," Lee's family wrote a statement on Wednesday.

According to media reports, Lee experienced marital problems several years ago, which led to the development of depression despite her naturally cheerful disposition. She made continuous efforts to seek treatment, often immersing herself into work to uplift her spirits, but the condition deteriorated rapidly in recent times until she took her own life at home on July 2. 

It is difficult for the public to notice the symptoms of patients with "smiling depression," but people close to the patients would notice as there must be changes in the patients' reactions to the outside world, Zhang Kan, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.  

But after all, the development of depression is not necessarily related to disposition. "The cause of depression still has not been clearly revealed. Some people may have depression after their brain is seriously hurt while some others may have depression after significant life changes," Zhang explained. 

"Why people who smile a lot also suffer from depression?" "What can we do about depression?" and "Do you really know about depression?" are some of themes being discussed in social media posts in China. 

Depressive disorder (also known as depression) is a common mental disorder. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression, according to the World Health Organization. 

The prevalence of depression in China is also high, with more than 95 million Chinese people suffering from the disease, according to a survey on Chinese citizens' mental health that was published in The Lancet in September 2021. 

However, more than 90 percent of people surveyed with depressive disorders in China fail to seek treatment, and only 0.5 percent have received adequate treatment, according to the survey. 

The fact that many Chinese people have difficulty expressing emotions (alexithymia) may be one of the causes of this status, experts pointed out, referring to other possible reasons such as the inadequate medical resources and the long period and high cost to cure the disease.  

So far, China has about 40,000 registered psychiatrists while the number of people with mental disorders is estimated to be more than 200 million, media reported in December 2022.

The Global Times learned from some psychiatric hospitals that it costs nearly 10,000 yuan to receive a course of psychotherapy on depression in Beijing hospitals and patients need to wait for about one-two months to receive psychological counseling.  

Current antidepressants are effective but some patients change or stop taking the pills without the psychiatrist's guidance when they think they are getting better. In addition, besides medication, the society and families need to work together to help the patients to overcome the disease, Zhang noted. 

Zhang called for enhanced social recognition of depression. The society should become aware of the severity of the disease while understanding that it is a common disease and can be cured, he noted. He also suggested including antidepressants into the medical insurance system to increase the accessibility of the drugs.