When 14‑year‑old Xiaomei turned down a lull of exams, she bought cough medication online and slipped into a haze that finally left her in the hospital. Her story is just one of dozens from chat groups where teens share how pills let them "run away from reality."
Xiaomei began by taking a single tablet, feeling a brief dizziness. It soon escalated to 10‑plus doses of pain or seizure drugs, bought on the same platforms she used to order school supplies. "If I fail an exam or fight with my parents, I take these drugs," she told a reporter, describing the underground exchange of names to hide the drugs’ identities.
The pattern mirrors a broader trend: teens seeking a "pharmaceutical high" to cope with pressure. While some community members offered the advice "Just sleep, you will be fine tomorrow," the side effects—hallucinations, impaired coordination, and memory loss—are the real danger.
In 2024, Beijing officials re‑classified Xiaomei’s cough suppressant as a psychotropic drug, making it harder to buy without a prescription. Yet online markets still surface other analgesics for only a few yuan. A 2025 study notes that as soon as one drug becomes controlled, youth shift to substitutes, demonstrating the limitation of a pure supply‑side approach.
The government now aims to build a nationwide crisis‑intervention system, installing counsellors in primary and junior schools and opening psychiatric services in every county by 2030. Reports say 92% of primary schools already have counsellors, yet only 500 qualified child psychiatrists sit in major cities. The mismatch between demand and supply underscores the urgency of mental‑health resources.
Parents often ignore the emotional turmoil their children face. Famous sociologist Xiang Biao notes that the one‑child legacy forces parents to equate academic failure with personal failure. In contrast, Xiaomei’s parents listened openly after her overdose, a change that helped the girl recover and succeed academically.
Young adults like 22‑year‑old Lu Jingchan have used drugs repeatedly before quitting and now urge others to seek help. "I want to give you the courage to stop," he says, adding that life will improve if students confront challenges head‑on instead of numbing themselves.
The crisis is a clarion call: open conversations, quality counseling, and enough specialists are needed for teens to thrive amid China’s relentless academic culture. Critics say that tackling the drug trade must be paired with addressing the root cause—psychological distress behind the exams.
