Chinese teens are turning to mind-numbing drugs to 'run away from reality'

ByLaura Bicker

China correspondent, Reporting fromBeijing

At 14, *Xiaomei, a high-performing pupil from a coastal state successful China, decided to overdose connected cough medication.

She wanted to impressment an older lad who told her it would assistance her relax. The tablets were usually lone disposable with a doctor's prescription, but she managed to bargain them online.

At archetypal she recovered that they made her a spot dizzy. But she was soon hooked to the somewhat numb sensation, which, to her, felt similar a little respite from the unit of looming exams. When taken successful ample doses, the cause tin origin superior broadside effects, including hallucinations and impaired coordination.

Eventually she tried different medicine recommended to her connected chat groups. Some were for symptom oregon epileptic seizures. Sometimes she would instrumentality 5 tablets. Other times she would effort much than 10 to consciousness the effects of antithetic drugs.

For 2 years, she took ample quantities of assorted medicine drugs. None of them were prescribed to her oregon anyone successful her family. She bought them each connected the internet.

"When I felt excessively overmuch unit from my studies, oregon I didn't bash good astatine exams, oregon adjacent erstwhile I quarrelled with my parents, I would instrumentality these drugs," she told the BBC. "I was moving distant from reality."

The BBC has heard akin stories from dozens of Chinese teenagers successful chat rooms crossed assorted societal media platforms. Nearly each 1 of them seemed to beryllium escaping the aforesaid thing: pressure. They were doing that by chasing what is being described arsenic a "pharmaceutical high".

One miss shared a dependable enactment aft taking ample doses of a neuropathic symptom drug. Her words were slurred and hard to comprehend: "I consciousness my assemblage doesn't beryllium to me. I'm truthful dizzy."

“Just sleep," comes the advice. "You volition beryllium good tomorrow."

One lad offered to usage his father's aged medicine to fake a caller 1 for the aforesaid drug.

Some offered tips: "If you privation to hallucinate, you tin conscionable buy... it's not been controlled yet," says 1 user, suggesting a cause utilized by radical with Parkinson's to power tremors. In excessive doses it tin origin disorder oregon adjacent delirium.

"Which keyword should I usage to hunt for it connected online platforms," different idiosyncratic asks.

It is hard to gauge the standard of the problem, arsenic determination are fewer authoritative figures.

But it is superior capable that the authorities launched a nationwide crackdown 2 years agone against the cough suppressant Xiaomei started using, classifying it arsenic a psychotropic cause which would lone beryllium disposable to patients with a doctor's prescription. That made it overmuch harder for young radical to bargain online.

Then successful April this year, authorities noticed that young radical had switched to different cause and imposed tighter controls connected however it is prescribed and dispensed astatine chemists. Still the BBC was offered the cause successful an online chat country for arsenic small arsenic 10 Chinese yuan ($1.5; £1.09) per gram.

"Non-regulated substances are casual to get and adjacent erstwhile 1 cause is controlled by the authorities, young radical rapidly find alternatives," says a 2025 insubstantial written for the Crime Prevention Institute astatine the Ministry of Justice.

In immoderate cases the BBC recovered that teens online were utilizing antithetic names for drugs to debar detection, which the 2025 survey besides noted.

There is increasing grounds that young radical crossed the satellite are turning to medicine medicine to combat disconnected pressures and anxiety.

So casual entree to inexpensive medicine drugs successful China is possibly not that astonishing fixed that it produces the immense bulk of the world's pharmaceutical ingredients.

When Xiaomei wanted to bargain the cough suppressant, it conscionable took a fewer clicks for an full container of the medicine to beryllium delivered astatine her door, she says. "You could simply participate your ID fig connected buying platforms and bargain it directly."

The ID, which is simply a nationalist individuality number, includes her property but she says she was inactive sold the drug, nary questions asked. It was besides inexpensive - often 50 tablets outgo little than a dollar.

On paper, China is winning the warfare connected amerciable drugs. Official information for 2025 shows a melodramatic autumn - 41% - successful recently identified cause users nether the property of 35.

However authorities person had to admit that the misuse of medicine drugs is becoming a wide problem. It has been particularly surging among minors, China's National Narcotics Control Commission warned successful a caller report.

Xiaomei says that a batch of students successful her elite chemistry people were discussing ways to overdose connected medicine drugs to debar feeling similar "complete losers".

"It is conscionable truthful hard to walk exams and to enactment successful elite classes. In our school, the elite classes run connected an elimination system; if your world scores drop, you get kicked retired of the class. When you fail, you consciousness similar failures, believing you person nary accidental successful life."

Part of the unit comes from parents who besides spot their kid arsenic their lone anticipation for the future, says renowned Chinese sociologist and manager of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Xiang Biao.

Because of the one-child argumentation which ended successful 2016 aft decades, galore families lone person 1 child, Biao adds, who shoulders each their expectations.

"What makes Chinese teens antithetic is their isolating environment. They walk astatine slightest 9 oregon 10 hours successful school. They person precise fewer chances to make societal relationships, precise fewer opportunities to witnesser what beingness is truly like."

More worrying, helium sees a nexus betwixt medicine cause maltreatment and an summation successful self-harm. The BBC noticed, for instance, that successful galore of the chat rooms, young radical would promote 1 different to chopped themselves "to consciousness something".

As an highly competitory precocious schoolhouse entranceway exam drew close, Xiaomei tried a antithetic drug, searching for ways to numb the anxiety.

"But my representation deteriorated rapidly," she says. "I couldn't retrieve thing clearly, and I lived successful a changeless daze."

The cause is usually prescribed to assistance power epileptic seizures and it works arsenic neuropathic symptom medication. When Xiaomei explained the broadside effects successful 1 of her chat groups, they suggested different drug, which is fixed arsenic symptom relief. She says it gave her immoderate merchandise but she soon needed higher doses.

Months earlier sitting the important exam, she went excessively far.

She'd taken 50 tablets and started to panic. "I was acrophobic thing superior mightiness happen, but I didn't privation to person my tummy pumped truthful I wanted to hold earlier telling my parents."

But she became truthful unwell that she had to confess.

Her parents decided to perceive to what they saw arsenic their daughter's outcry for help.

"They mostly expressed however heartbreaking it was for them to spot maine similar that. They didn't scold oregon criticise me. Their attack was gentle."

For her, this has made each the difference.

"Many children person tons of attraction but the benignant of attraction they privation is to beryllium asked however they feel. Do they consciousness lonely oregon stressed? Often successful China parents brushwood that distant and accidental you conscionable person to beryllium stronger," Biao says.

"There's a precise large alarm being sounded retired crossed Chinese society. Adults person to analyse however to beryllium liable for a teenager. Having an unfastened speech arsenic a household - that is astir apt the astir rewarding portion of life."

And that is wherever the existent conflict lies, according to experts. Rather than playing whack-a-mole trying to suppress online income of medicine drugs, the authorities should absorption connected what whitethorn good beryllium a intelligence wellness crisis, they say.

In 2023, a survey for China's Mental Health Blue Book recovered that astir 95 cardinal radical endure from slump and much than 30% were nether 18 years old.

The Chinese authorities has recognised the request for intelligence wellness enactment for teens. Those plans see counselling rooms successful each school, psychiatric services successful astatine slightest 1 infirmary successful each region and much intelligence wellness professionals. The purpose is to physique a nationwide strategy of intelligence enactment and situation involution by 2030.

So acold they person been rather successful. According to the State Council, 92% of superior schools and 95% of inferior mediate schools present person a counsellor. Many large cities, including Beijing, person started to incorporated intelligence wellness into the curriculum.

However, determination is inactive a large shortage of aesculapian psychiatrists specialising successful children and adolescents.

A 2020 survey published successful British aesculapian diary The Lancet claimed determination were lone 500 qualified kid psychiatrists successful the country, and galore of them were based successful large cities specified arsenic Beijing and Shanghai.

This is simply a immense situation successful a state that has undergone 3 decades of unprecedented societal and economical change.

The China Xiaomei's parents grew up successful is precise antithetic from the aboriginal she is facing. Her parents followed a publication acceptable by the Communist Party: enactment hard and you volition beryllium rewarded. Now, adjacent if young adults walk with precocious grades and get a assemblage degree, a agleam aboriginal is not guaranteed.

Following gruelling pandemic restrictions, the Chinese system has struggled to bounce back. One successful 5 young radical are thought to beryllium struggling to find a occupation and families are spending less.

"People person go much pessimistic successful general," Biao admits. And the anxiousness extends to adults, helium adds.

"I deliberation parents consciousness confused and anxious due to the fact that they spot a occupation successful their children, but they don't spot an alternative. If my kid has a problem, it's the extremity of the world. If my kid doesn't bash good successful school, it's the extremity of the world. If my kid doesn't talk to me, it's the extremity of the world. I deliberation we should wage much attraction to parents arsenic good arsenic children."

Fortunately Xiaomei and her parents person managed to find a mode to transverse this bridge.

"In the past, my parents didn't truly recognize maine and would accidental immoderate beauteous harsh things. I felt similar I had nary assistance and was genuinely connected my own," she says.

But that changed erstwhile she was rushed to infirmary aft the overdose. They started listening to her and talking to her, and "knowing that determination was idiosyncratic lasting by my broadside made maine consciousness truly good", she says. It adjacent helped her execute good successful the entranceway exam she had been dreading for truthful long.

"I americium fortunate to person their support," she adds.

Not everyone finds specified enactment though, and that's wherever *Lu Jingchan hopes helium tin help.

The 22-year-old spent years battling depression. He recovered it hard to bushed the euphoria that came from taking medicine drugs, and overdosed much than 4 times successful 4 years.

"The drugs drove maine to the brink of madness. You hazard sinking into an abyss of addiction, destroying your health," helium says.

He has present discontinue each medicine medication, and spends his clip connected societal media urging others not to start. And helium has this proposal for young radical battling the pressures helium erstwhile did.

"I anticipation you tin look beingness head-on, without needing medicines to numb yourselves. If you are overdosing, I privation to springiness you the courageousness to stop. I judge your lives volition improve. I judge you volition each find happiness."

*Names person been changed to support their individuality