Compiled by DIVYA THERESA and C.ARUNO
THE thought of being “interrogated” by relatives about marriage and work had troubled a woman so much that she developed insomnia and severe stomach pains for nearly a month, China Press reported.
The 29-year-old woman from China’s Hubei province had been anxious about her return to her hometown for Chinese New Year, fearing the repeated questions from relatives about marriage, childbearing and her work.
Her anxiety was so bad that she developed persistent stomach cramps as she spent sleepless nights dreading their questions.
Eventually, she sought help at the Wuhan Third Hospital’s Clinical Psychology Department.
Dr Ge Linfeng, a psychiatrist at the hospital, said the stress that patients feel during this period stemmed from emotional pressure to get married, income comparison, conflicts with family members and exhaustion from social interactions.
He urged people to give up what he refers to as “unnecessary socialising” and set aside personal time and space to rest.
A psychotherapist, Xi Maomao, said that these symptoms were referred to as “year-end syndrome” or a “holiday crisis”, adding that the hospital saw a 30% rise of such visits this year.
> Olympic medallist and world diving champion Cheong Jun Hoong, who gave birth to her first child about two months ago, is enjoying motherhood, China Press reported. The diver from Ipoh who retired in 2022 posted on social media about not getting complete sleep but “your soft, baby voice makes it impossible to be upset with you”.
“From a newborn to an infant, it all happened before I knew it,” said Cheong, who got married in October 2024.
Cheong, 35, made history at the World Aquatics Championships 2017 in Budapest, Hungary, where she won gold in the women’s 10m event, Malaysia’s first-ever diving world championship title.
And her pairing with Datuk Pandelela Rinong led to them win the silver in the women’s 10m synchronised event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
