FOUR senior members of the media have committed suicide within the past four weeks, shocking the public and forcing people to re-examine their own psychological condition.

Career pressure seems to be a universal problem in almost every industry. Psychologists suggest it may be a problem of people viewing themselves merely as working machines rather than as human beings with value.

Song Bin, 52, president of the Xinhua news agency’s Anhui branch, hung himself in his office on April 28. The suicide note suggested he had been suffering depression since 2004 and lost interest in life.

Xu Bin, 35-year-old vice president of City Express (a daily newspaper in Hangzhou), committed suicide on May 4. He was also a depression patient who suffered great work pressure and longtime sleeplessness.

Xu’s working partner Zhu Jian grieved over Xu in his Weibo account, suggesting that Xu was so talented and responsible that he carried on an increasingly heavy pressure that finally pushed him over the edge.

He Weixing, 49, vice president of Hunan Broadcasting and TV Station, was found hung at the staircase of his office building on May 6.

Two suicide notes and a notebook suggested he suffered great pressure, along with a helpless feeling about achieving nothing despite his hard work.

His nephew said that He had complained about some of his old subordinates gaining better positions than him.

Zhang Jingwu, 47, general manager of business operation at Jin Daily in Shenzhen, was found dead with a suicide note in a culvert on May 8. He also suffered from depression.

Great pressure

About 1 million people worldwide commit suicide due to depression annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

An epidemiological investigation published in The Lancet in 2009 suggested that the number of Chinese depression patients stood at 90 million. Long-time depression is a direct cause of suicidal tendency.

Shanghai Daily interviewed a number of people in different industries and found, not surprisingly, that almost everyone complains about their pressure regardless of  industry and position.

A survey on people’s psychological condition released recently suggested that most Chinese working people suffered great pressure in 2013, and felt less happy in work. The survey was conducted by zhaopin.com, one of China’s leading recruitment websites, with 111,032 valid samples.

Fulfilling quotas within a deadline is the biggest pressure for 25-year-old account manager Shirley Zuo, who works for a state-owned bank branch.

Whether she can achieve the quota not only determines the bonus she can get, but also the income of her colleagues, since the whole branch’s budget will be cut if it fails to fulfill the general quota. It’s not an easy job since the branch is located in a non-residential area with few individual customers.

“Selling financial products is all I need to. Quota is assigned every month, and I even dream about it when the deadlines approach,” says Zuo, who admits that some of the products are actually not good at all.

“Some people talk irresponsibly to fulfill their quota, but I have my own principles,” says Zuo, “So I have to work even harder to sell more other products to make it up, or ask my customer for help honestly in the worst situation.”

Partying with friends and doing physical exercise help Zuo distract herself away from the heavy pressure, but it’s only temporary.

Though freed from quotas since he moved from a sales position to president secretary in a state-owned company months ago, 33-year-old Kevin Jiang still cannot get much relief.

“Sales is about adding numbers in your achievements, while secretary is about zero mistake in taking care of everything,” he says.

Much more prudence is needed to deal with the president and different seniors in the company. What to report, whom to report, how to report and how much to report are all that Jiang was thinking about in the first few months in his new position.

“Once you make a mistake, it is very likely that you will lose your boss’ trust and get doomed,” says Jiang.

He suffered a lot of emotional distress when he realized he might not have coped with a particular problem in the best way. Luckily, he has some reliable friends he can talk to and ask for advice. He feels a lot of relief when he figures out the best way to deal with a situation the next time it comes up.

Being teamed with a “tiaozi ke” (literally “note employee” who gains the position because of guanxi or connection with a leader) is the biggest nightmare for 25-year-old Jessie Tang, who works at a local stock exchange firm.

She has to take most of the team’s work and most of the punishment as well, since her superior dare not directly assign work to or scold the “note employee” because of his background.

“It is so frustrating to be punished for other’s mistakes. The supervisor just makes me the scapegoat,” says Tang.

And the truth is Tang does not dare to fight, since she wants to make a career in the company. All she can do is accepting it and complaining to close friends.

Work for living

The prevailing work pressure is a common result of the pursuit for fast development in China, according to Zhang Qi, associate professor of psychology at East China Normal University.

“Most people today work for a living rather than interest. They take themselves as a tool to complete work rather than humans realizing their value,” says Zhang. “Some people don’t even like their work, but force themselves to do as much as possible so that they can reach their goals for money or status. Surely they will feel greater pressure when they find themselves nowhere closer to the goal.”

Considering the multiple requirements for people to take responsibility for society, for an enterprise and for their family, some just feel overwhelmed and collapse.

“We cannot slow down the general development pace,” says Zhang, “but individuals can make their own choices, such as not to push themselves too hard.”

Talking with friends or family members, transferring their attention through entertainment or sports may help. But people finding themselves suffering a bad mood for more than six weeks should see a psychological counselor or doctor, experts say.

Though depression is gradually accepted as a real condition by more Chinese people thanks to attention it has received over the years, many people hesitate to seek help from professionals for fear that they could be labeled as “psycho” or face discrimination at work.

“Psychological treatment is equally or even more important than medical treatment for treating depression patients, yet I would say that not much support in that field is provided so far in China,” says Zhang.