Kevin McGeary

ACCORDING to the Web site of People's Daily, 26 million Chinese are depressed. This is exacerbated by the high cost of psychiatric care and the social stigma attached to mental illness. In terms of freedom and spending power, the Chinese public's standard of living has been increasing on an almost steady curve since the 1980s, but people have not been getting happier.

Consumer culture is based on expectation, thus making disappointment inevitable. Even education has become a consumer product. In the United States, unemployed puppeteer and member of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Joe Therrion has attracted much ridicule for being disappointed after his master's degree in puppetry did not lead to job opportunities. A similar problem is common in China's language training industry. An English teacher explained to me last week that his training center had lost customers because they were dissatisfied with their progress. He also said the students had not done any homework and had had a passive attitude in class, but the students thought it normal to expect to tip their heads and have English poured into their ears.

Such a culture is fueled by dissatisfaction and wanting more instead of appreciating or making the most of what one has. A fairly reliable measurement of the stage of a Chinese city's development is the number of Western fast-food restaurants it has. Blogger Waldo Jaquith pointed out that a cheeseburger is a modern miracle by explaining that its numerous ingredients must be farmed at different times of year, thus can only exist in a highly advanced, post-agrarian society. But in both Mandarin and English, it is derided as "junk food," and we are told to feel guilty about enjoying it.

Among the reasons thought of as a common source of mental strife is pressure to succeed and financial pressure. To be considered successful, one must give the appearance of being happy. As China has opened up, it has adapted many aspects of American culture, specifically its "self-help" industry. Books about positive psychology are popular in China. As neurologist and holocaust survivor Victor Frankl pointed out, there is something insidious about the American culture in which one is "commanded and ordered to be happy." At this time of year there are many parties and social gatherings and songs reminding us "this is the season to be jolly." In much of the world, the holiday season sees the highest suicide rate which is partly attributable to the pressure to wear a smile like a mask.

The "self-help" industry leans heavily on the idea that you and you alone are responsible for your success or failure. At first glance, this is a liberating idea, and a principle by which companies like Amway and Mary Kay operate. But it also carries the burden of having to blame yourself if you are anything less than a complete success. It is not an earth-shattering revelation to say that China is not fair. As one example, State-owned enterprises have numerous advantages in the marketplace, and in almost any professional field, knowing the right person is more useful than having the right skills. Hard work and positive thinking are not always the answer. In order to get a rude awakening, some people need to hear a four-letter word that begins with C and ends in T. Yes, the pernicious word "can't." Identifying what can't be done is as important as dreaming about what can. Convincing yourself that anything is possible before encountering reality is a certain path to disappointment.

According to Guangzhou Daily, the main cause of mental illness in Shenzhen is family disputes, accounting for 41.6 percent. Confucian thinking is still prevalent in China, part of which is the subjugation of the individual to the family unit. In her recent book, "The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying," Bonnie Ware cites her experience in palliative care to list the regrets people uttered on their deathbeds, and the first regret was people wishing they had lived a life true to themselves instead of what others expected of them. Societies like China and Japan are doubly prone to this problem as it is common for parents to engineer their children's decisions, such as choice of university major and choice of career. Being in a marriage or a career that was not of one's own choosing is seldom likely to lead to a sense of accomplishment.

By the standards of Chinese (and American, and British, and European, etc...) society, depression is a mental illness. But to believe that the "real world" of parties, weddings and business is pointless is to simply look at a bigger picture that most of us choose not to think about. We will go the same way as the dinosaurs, and no matter what we achieve or experience, our lives will be no more consequential. There is no evidence, of academic or journalistic value, to say that life is serious.

(The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)