This picture is taken from the Jan 27 Science Magazine. The woman is not sexy in the most fashionable way, and not a beauty by the traditional standard. But she has melancholy eyes, a distinctive trait once I liked.

The window to the heart is our eyes. Does the blue in her eyes tell us that her mood is not optimal, or is it merely a sign crying for love?

In the Jan 27 issue of the Science Magazine, its News Focus reported the problem of suicide in China. It is well known that China has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The suicide is as prevalent in the rural areas as in the urban areas, affects equally men and women, and those with high and low education. Nevertheless, the Science news report noticed a discrepancy. The high suicide rate was not matched by a high depression rate. Thus, it concluded that in China, many suicides were due to impulsive behavior rather than the endpoints of depression.

A letter published in this week’s Science pointed out that the high suicide rate in China might be due to the high fatality rate, as the fatal suicides were more likely to be reported. The difference between suicide and depression might be small if taken this consideration.

So, what’s the real problem in the suicide?

Well, I don’t know.

Durkhim, the founding father of sociology, told us that the suicide rate is kind of “stable” in all periods. The proportion of the suicide-prone people is stable in our society. There is always a distribution of psychological characteristics including intelligence and emotion. It is conceivable that those who are in the lower part of the emotion distribution may experience a lot of stress in their lives. I guess evolution may also have limited ability to deal with psychological development.

My opinion is that a lot of suicides in China are due to stress because suicide is always one of the resolutions to solve life crisis. For example, during the Culture Revolution and several years before it, a lot of intellectuals committed suicide to avoid humiliation and to cleanse themselves. Some of them might be related to depression, but most committed their suicide quickly after being labeled as “people’s enemies.” It was a stressful situation for them.

It is also very common that people, especially women, resort to suicide during family quarrels. In fact, I have witnessed incidences of self-poisoning, cutting the veins, and jumping out of the window. Almost all cases I know are not related to depression (yes, this is not a scientific argument).

I also have a vivid memory that during the time when Shanghai first issued stock to the public, one young teacher had lost so much money over night that he threw himself down from the basic medical science building within days. It is possible that he was deeply depressed, but the depression was certainly caused by the stress.

Thus, It might be true that suicide in China is more impulsive oriented than from chronic depression. Because the modern society is fast paced and stressful, people should be taught of coping skills to deal with crisis. Life is precious, and giving up your life is worthless.