Depressed people committed as many as 23 percent of the murders recorded in recent years, and most of those could have been avoided if decent psychological care had been available, a research report has found.
Between 2002 and 2006, depressed people committed more than 6,000 homicides according the report, released at the 10th national judicial psychiatric academic symposium in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.
"People suffering from depression often think their lives are hard," said Zhao Zhenhuan, the head of a cerebral surgery hospital in Guangzhou. "If they choose to die, they want to die with their most loved ones."
However, few people would go to the extreme of committing murder if they received timely and proper treatment, he said.
Men and women acted differently in choosing their victims, the Beijing Evening News quoted the research report as saying.
Of the 6,000 cases of murder covered by the report, 94.4 percent of female perpetrators killed their children, while 63.2 percent of males killed their wives or lovers. Half of them committed suicide after committing murder, according to the report.
Figures from the China Association for Mental Health show that more than 26 million people suffer from depression in the country.
Almost 63 percent of them never see a psychologist. Up to 70 percent of suicides or attempted suicides involve depressed people.
About 250,000 Chinese take their own lives each year, making suicide one of the major causes of death in China, said Michael R. Philips, China representative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and a consultant with the Mental Health Department of the World Health Organization.
The research paper found that many people in rural areas, especially married ones who have not received a college education, suffer from depression.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
