In Depth: The Grueling Fight to Get China’s Depressed Teens Back to School

This marks the third year since Xuan Xia, a student from Nanning in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was diagnosed with depression, and her second year out of school.

Starting in the seventh grade, nasty rumors and bullying caused bad feelings to quietly compound, leading to somatic symptoms and self-harm. By the second semester of 10th grade, Xuan left school and returned home. She made several attempts to resume her studies, but they all failed.