Advances in diagnosis and management have meant that China is now able to measure its rate of depression and suicide. Leaving the macro picture aside, it's possible to look at depression from a more micro level and reel off a list of musicians, movie stars and writers that have suffered - and in extreme cases died - from some form of mental disorder in the past.

Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the band Joy Division, was a sufferer of depression, which eventually led to his suicide in 1980. Other stars who've spoken out about their problems include Jim Carrey, who said that he had suffered from bouts of depression, Gwyneth Paltrow, who admitted to postnatal depression and author J K Rowling, who claimed to be suffering from clinical depression while writing her Harry Potter novels.

China also has its own casualties of depression in notable celebrity circles and powerful positions throughout history. Perhaps due to the nature of lacking treatment, many progressed to severe stages and are now known for their early deaths after committing suicide. Last year brought the problem to a head when a politician in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, hanged himself close to his own home. It was only afterwards that it was announced he had suffered from long-term depression.

Harder to judge is the case of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Chongzhen Emperor, who famously hanged himself in Jingshan Park in 1644, since he was "unable to bear the shame" of a defeat at the hands of the Manchus.

Whether inside or outside of politics, suicide cases usually have certain common characteristics. They often happen after a great period of personal strife, sometimes topped off by one last finishing blow that creates a mental situation that the individual just can't see a way out of. In 2002, Pauline Chan Bo-Lin, a Shanghainese adult movie actress, who had made her name in the Hong Kong porn industry, threw herself to her death from the 24th floor of her apartment building. It had been by no means an impulsive move. After several tumultuous years being hounded by the media in the Chinese mainland, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, Chan had been demonized everywhere she went. She had been seen in public acting in an unusual way, which had only added to her troubles, and after also suffering from postnatal depression, it became too much.

Public shame, along with the cultural import that it carries, also seems to be a major trigger in China. Along with society's rather depreciative view of mental illness, it leaves sufferers stranded. For example, in 2007, plagued by media scandals and with little hope of rescuing his own situation, Zhang Shuhong, who headed up Lee Der Industrial, a mass manufacturer of toys for world leading company of the time Mattel, committed suicide inside one of his own factories. The toys Zhang had been responsible for manufacturing were found to contain lead paint, harmful or even fatal to young children. Overwrought and overworked  Zhang had spent a week under close scrutiny, which could have been the trigger that pushed him over the edge.

It's impossible to measure just how much of an influence culture has had on the situation of China's famous suicides. If anything the need to save face has perhaps accelerated matters, and until there's a solid system that the public is aware of, it doesn't look like the problem will abate any time soon.