Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 337 Nan Zhuren: Everyone is a potential pervert
Nan Zhuren recalled.

When she sees herself as a "consultant," Ms. Zhao is committed to providing "good counseling" to every student; however, she also feels guilty because she is unable to help all the students who need counseling due to insufficient energy.

Now that she has transformed herself into a "psychological counselor," she seems to have become obsessed with providing meticulous "guidance" to her students.

The turnaround was a bit too fast.

This kind of jumping from one extreme to another often happens in psychological counseling as well.

This is why psychological counseling is usually conducted in stages, step by step.

Otherwise, if the intervention process or medication dosage is not properly controlled, it could lead to a situation where depression develops into bipolar disorder...

Too much of a good thing can be bad.

Fortunately, Ms. Zhao's problem wasn't as serious as described above. Also, while her professional skills were weak, they were... sufficient.

Just make a slight correction to some of your perceptions.

……

Nan Zhuren mentally organized his thoughts.

"It seems that since our last conversation, Ms. Zhao, you have indeed reconsidered your career path."

As is customary, let's start with a wave of support and positive attention.

This has become almost a habit for Nan Zhuren. Not only in counseling, but these two techniques are also often helpful in everyday social interactions.

Teacher Zhao nodded subconsciously: "Yes, I searched for books related to the existentialist school of thought last night and found them very helpful..."

But what Nan Zhuren said next was not from books or textbooks.

"Teacher Zhao, do you remember how to assess a person's 'mental health' in psychological counseling?"

Teacher Zhao was taken aback.

This is a question without a single correct answer.

However, the academic community and clinical practice have summarized a set of core standards that are widely recognized.

Teacher Zhao didn't have the ability to recite it word for word, but she still tried her best to retell it in her own understanding.

"Um... normal cognitive function, good emotional regulation, sound social function, complete personality structure, self-actualization... and, it seems to be related to cultural harmony?"

enough.

Nan Zhuren smiled slightly: "That's about right. These few can basically cover the standards for a so-called 'psychologically healthy person'."

"So, Teacher Zhao, how many people do you think meet this standard?"

Another sentence silences a person.

When the brain receives a question, logical thinking begins to operate, attempting to deconstruct past experiences to obtain the answer.

But now, Teacher Zhao seems to have lost her mind.

"Okay, let me rephrase the question—Ms. Zhao, do you consider yourself a 'psychologically healthy person'?"

Teacher Zhao opened her mouth to answer, but then hesitated again.

Is she?
That's not really the case.

Putting everything else aside, the very idea of ​​"achieving self-actualization" is enough to shut Teacher Zhao down.

Looking at Teacher Zhao, who was blinking constantly, Nan Zhuren spread his hands out with palms up, making a "see?" gesture. "Completely 'healthy people' in a psychological sense are very rare, and it can even be said that they only exist in the definition."

"To achieve such 'health,' the requirements are numerous: cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, decision-making, and planning must be age-appropriate and education-level; one must be able to experience a variety of emotions without becoming trapped in extreme emotions for extended periods; one must be able to freely build intimate relationships with others and empathize with them in a controlled manner; one must have a clear sense of purpose or pursuit in life and be able to reflect on experiences and adapt to environmental changes; one must not only be self-aware but also be able to integrate well into one's own cultural background, and..."

Nan Zhuren elaborated on everything that Teacher Zhao had just said.

"To achieve this, not only are high demands placed on an individual's psychological resilience and other qualities, but also on their family, education, and social environment..."

"In fact, a certain amount of mysterious luck is needed to control a person's fate in order to prevent accidents from happening."

Looking at Teacher Zhao, whose brain was starting to spin.

After Nan Zhuren stunned her with the sharp knife of truth, he comforted her.

"In fact, it's not just you."

He turned his right hand and made a "quick-fall Vegeta" gesture, pointing to himself and saying, "I can't even achieve complete 'psychological health' in a psychological sense."

"I'm telling you all this to go back to our previous topic—you said you wanted Li Mingchen to 'recover,' but to what extent would 'recover' be considered a recovery?"

"Will he revert to his pre-anorexia and anxiety state? But was he 'mentally healthy' back then? If not, will you continue to monitor and intervene indefinitely?"

Teacher Zhao lowered her head, her expression unreadable.

Of course, this "inexplicable" feeling is only true to others. But given Nan Zhuren's ability to interpret things, Teacher Zhao was basically wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Nan Zhuren pointed it out directly: "You're still concerned about 'anorexia' and 'anxiety,' right? You feel that no matter how mild the symptoms are, they are ultimately problems?"

Teacher Zhao didn't find it incredible that Nan Zhuren could see through her heart.

She nodded and replied, "Yes."

Nan Zhuren organized his thoughts and suddenly thought of an interesting way of putting it.

"Teacher Zhao, did you study abnormal psychology in your undergraduate studies?"

The female teacher shook her head.

The course "Abnormal Psychology" is a core course that mainly studies the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and even congenital personality disorders. In terms of depth, it exceeds that of general psychological counseling and involves the levels of clinical medicine and psychiatry.

This is a classic case from Hannibal Lecter's "Abnormal Psychology," which is well-known to everyone.

Therefore, abnormal psychology is considered a very advanced course for undergraduate psychology students. Even if it appears, it is only an elective course, and it is normal not to have studied it.

"In the book 'Abnormal Psychology,' the definition of 'abnormal' is simply 'deviation from the norm.'"

Nan Zhuren first set the tone, and then his smile gradually became playful.

"The so-called 'normal state' can actually be simply and crudely understood as 'a mentally healthy person'."

"so……"

Nan Zhuren spread his hands again and shrugged.

"According to the definition of abnormal psychology, every one of us, without exception, is 'abnormal,' or at least 'potentially abnormal,' and 'will become abnormal sooner or later.'"

"If we understand it this way, then it's much easier to accept that Li Mingchen only experienced anorexia and anxiety that didn't interfere with his normal life afterward."

“And…” Nan Zhuren looked at Teacher Zhao and comforted her, “What I’m telling you is the ‘worst’ scenario.”

"If things go smoothly and optimistically, Li Mingchen will be even closer to the definition of a 'psychologically healthy person' than you."

(End of this chapter)