Community services

"At that time, I found that in Europe and the United States, there are comprehensive services to support the rehabilitation of depressed adolescents, including foundation-school cooperation projects, government-funded community centers, hospital-led rehabilitation services, and commercial rehabilitation centers. But I found that in China, the support network is not well-established," Sheng says.

In October 2021, Lyuting Home was founded by Sheng and Zou Feng, the owner of the building where Lyuting is based, and welcomed its first six residents. In July, it was selected as a representative program in a report on mental health services for adolescents edited by the Rici Foundation, a charitable group in Guangdong province. In October, Lyuting was selected in the startup program — SEED acceleration.

Li Xiangzhi, who is in charge of Dogo, also says that many parents think that stopping the taking of antidepressants is a sign of full recovery, but real recovery is not a straightforward affair, and involves the elimination of symptoms and reduction of the risk of relapse.

Chinese psychiatrists evaluate and diagnose adolescent depression, typically using the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision by the World Health Organization, and the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

For Sheng, it means that as long as a person's performance meets certain categories, they can be diagnosed with depression.

"But in my opinion, the medical category has its limitations. When you spend time with people who suffer depression, you find that the medical term is only one perspective. The thing we called depression is a complicated dilemma, which affects different people in different ways," Sheng says.

She adds that the complexity of depression means the rehabilitation process requires multidimensional support, and in addition to medical treatment, also needs to be combined with psychotherapy and social support.

"I hope Lyuting can help people with depression be seen as complete, with pain and happiness, but not with the label of mental illness," Sheng says.

Because mental illness does not define the essence of a person, it is only one of life's dilemmas, and in a supportive environment and relationship in a supportive society, it does not prevent us from realizing our personal worth, she says.