It's difficult not to sigh at the news that Lin Jiawen, a talented senior high school student, committed suicide on Feb. 24.

Lin Jiawen attended Xi'an Middle School in Shaanxi province in northwestern China. The 18-year-old published two academic works on history with hundreds of thousands of words.

Li Yumin, a famous historian, praised the boy's works highly and said that even some Ph.D. candidates cannot produce work of such a high level.

"Lin Jiawen passed away, what a pity," commented an Internet user on Weibo in the early morning of Feb. 24. Lin jumped to his death due to depression. 

According to Xi'an Middle School, Lin had suffered from depression for some time, but the condition was controlled by medication.

At 8 p.m. on Feb. 23, Lin did his homework after taking his medication. He sent an e-mail to one of his teachers with whom he kept in relatively frequent contact. The teacher learned that Lin had committed suicide when he tried to reply to Lin.

Lin suffered from depression for more than six months, said Lin's father. The full-time school psychologist had done counseling with Lin. 

On Jan. 26, Lin shared this WeChat message: "I increasingly don't understand what I am fighting for—perhaps it is for myself, but it is just fighting." Another WeChat message from Dec. 4 read: "The instructions say the drug's side effect is weight gain, but for me it is aching all over my body and constant sleepiness every day."

Xinguanchachuanmei issued Lin's suicide note, which read: "The future for me lacks attraction... I beg all those who learn of my death, even if you cannot understand it, please give me basic respect..."