Lend me your ears, show me the light

The lack of social awareness regarding the debilitating effects of depression is prompting Chinese patients to go online to support each other with much-needed sympathy.

Most importantly, on micro-blogging sites like Sina Weibo, support groups offer the depression sufferer a listening ear.

"People around us know too little about depression, and suffering depression in such a society is very lonely," says a 43-year-old man surnamed Guo in Jiangsu province, the initiator of an online support group.