A female postgraduate at Fudan University plunged to her death from a campus building on Monday. She's the second female postgraduate to commit suicide at the university in a month.

 

Officials said the woman was a first-year postgraduate student of international relations and public affairs. The Anhui Province native jumped from the 11th floor of the school's liberal arts building on Handan Road about 2 PM on Monday.

 

School officials said she'd been suffering from serious depression for months before the suicide. Her mother was so concerned that she came to the city to take care of her.

 

"But the efforts made failed to prevent this from happening," said a Fudan spokesperson surnamed Zhou. School officials wouldn't speculate on the woman's motive for killing herself and her mother declined to talk to the press yesterday.

 

A third-year female doctoral student in Fudan's history department jumped to her death from the university's tallest dorm building on October 26. The 38-year-old's dorm mates said she often locked herself in her room and had a habit of speaking to herself.

 

Liu Mingbo, vice director of Fudan's psychological counseling center, said many students struggled to deal with the pressures of modern society and too few were willing to seek professional help when they were depressed or facing other mental difficulties.  

 

"People are afraid they will be regarded as mentally unbalanced if people find out they are visiting a shrink," Liu said. "But it shouldn't be considered embarrassing." Liu added that fewer postgraduates were willing to seek psychological counseling compared to undergraduates.

 

A recent survey of 1,061 Fudan postgraduates indicated that study and employment worries were the biggest sources of pressure on students followed by financial concerns and relationships.

 

(Shanghai Daily November 15, 2006)