With the stresses, pressures, and high expectations that
Chinese women have to deal with on a daily basis, it is not surprising that more
and more of them are becoming susceptible to depression. Stories of single Chinese women relocating
from their hometown to the city, finding themselves with poor job prospects and
having no family or friends to support them, and eventually becoming
debilitated by clinical depression are becoming common in today’s China.
Better education and job opportunities can be found, of
course, in the cities. When the
government became more lax with local migration – from the rural to the urban
areas – and made good quality education and stable work easily available to the
rural population and Chinese women, in particular, the greatest human migration
in history began, and it’s still ongoing.
As the growth of China’s economy eventually plateaued and
then slowed down, as the number of Chinese women graduating from colleges and
universities and looking for jobs increased, and as the cost of living in the
cities increased, making a living has become more and more difficult. Indeed, unemployment in China has been
steadily rising.
Those with stable jobs still find it very difficult to make
ends meet, especially when a huge chunk of their monthly salary goes to
rent. They barely have enough left for
their basic needs, to send money to their parents, and most are unable to save
for the future.
It’s a popular belief that because depression is associated
with stress and women often live a low-stress life, they are less prone to
depression. The circumstances that the
women of China find themselves in nowadays, however, make them very vulnerable
to this illness.
In Hong Kong, for instance, a survey revealed that 1.98
million people, or 35 percent of the population, are depressed; a huge fraction
of this are young, Chinese women and homemakers. In the mainland, the high rates of suicide
among Chinese women also point to the same problem: depression.
Most young Chinese women spent their childhood living with
the constant pressure of proving their worth to their parents, many of whom
still would have preferred a son rather than a daughter. Being the only child, they were expected to
excel in everything they did, mostly to ensure their and their parents’
financial security in the future.
While some were expected to excel academically so that their
“dating/marriage resume” would look great and they would be able to land a good
husband soon after they graduated, others felt the pressure of finding a stable
and well-paying job after graduation so they could start providing for their
parents and saving for the future.
At the same time, these Chinese women are still constantly
pressured by tradition to find a good partner to marry and to start a
family. Conflicting and high
expectations, financial difficulties, work-related stresses or the inability to
find a good job, and filial obligations all combine to create a mental state
that makes these women highly susceptible to clinical depression.
On top of all these stressors, women of China still suffer
from gender discrimination, especially in the work place. A woman’s natural predisposition to hormonal
fluctuations also contributes to her vulnerability to this psychological disorder.
Full-time wives/homemakers also often live unhappy and
unfulfilled lives, especially with Chinese husbands’ tendencies to stray and be
neglectful. Chinese homemakers devote
their entire lives to taking care of their family; but nobody really takes care
of them. They have little time for
themselves, and much less to socialize.
Marrying foreign men can actually make things turn around
for Chinese women, not because they can rely on foreign husbands to give them a
comfortable life; but because these men are more supportive, considerate, and
caring partners.
Of course, being in a healthy relationship with the right
person is not a panacea to the trend of depression that is debilitating many
Chinese women; they have to learn to adapt more effectively to the stresses
they are exposed to. They have to
develop the will and the strength to keep forging ahead despite the
obstacles. But a loving partner by their
side will certainly make a huge difference.
Discover tons of great information about Chinese women,
having a Chinese wife, and Chinese dating and relationships on the blogs,
magazine and forum of ChinaLoveMatch.net (the home of trusted Chinese dating),
where international men and Chinese women share their life experiences and bare
their souls to give you the real goods on love, cross-cultural relationships,
and all things Chinese.
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