This is China! BLOG

The Gerbils of China

I wrote a couple weeks ago in my post, “Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting” about a personal observation I’ve made here in Suzhou. It seems to me there are open fights between Chinese people in Suzhou when before there had been very few. The commentary thread for the post offered some interesting perspectives on possible causes of this judgment call of mine.

The International Herald Tribune last week published an intriguing article, “As stress grows, Chinese turn to Western psychotherapy,” about the rising call for more psychotherapists and counselors in China’s fast-changing society. The article put me back in mind of what seems to me to be a tension that is rising in society due to modernization and the rapidity with which it has taken over people’s lives. According to the article:

“Job pressures may be a contributing factor. Fifty-one percent of Chinese respondents to a survey by Hudson Highland Group reported higher work stress than a year ago. It is the second consecutive year in which China has registered the highest stress levels in Asia, the recruitment firm, based in New York, said in a report in October.”

It seems that thousands of years of (albeit cyclical) history have not prepared society for the G-force stresses and strains that Madonna’s “Material World” have placed on the culture:

“China’s traditional culture values ’saving face,’ which means emphasizing the positive and addressing embarrassing issues obliquely. This approach conflicts with the process of openly discussing problems that is inherent to most psychotherapy.”

If my supposition is correct - that typically mild-mannered Yangtze River Region natives are going gerbil-crazy on modern life’s treadmill - then we ain’t seen nothing yet:

“The current global financial crisis may raise pressure on China’s economy - and increase potential demand for therapy - if a slowdown in U.S. and European consumer spending has repercussions in the export-dependent country.”

Time for a chill pill, China.